By Joe Fino
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

With the holidays upon us, Faye wrote and asked me, “What is the difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray?”

What we have here is an old-fashioned format war. Blu-ray and HD DVD are rival, incompatible formats, a situation very similar to the Beta versus VHS battle that inhibited the early growth of the VCR and home-video market in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

There are both differences and similarities between the two formats, the most common being improved video and audio fidelity. But Blu-ray and HD DVD are rival, next-generation formats. What that means to you is that no Blu-ray player will be able to play HD DVD discs, and no HD DVD player can play Blu-ray discs.

Both formats are vying to become the successor to DVD’s honor as the greatest success in consumer electronics history. Following its 1997 debut, the DVD format completely conquered the home-video market previously ruled by VHS tapes. However, before DVD reached its tenth anniversary, the electronics industry and Hollywood studios had already begun putting it out to pasture.

Both Blu-ray and HD DVD display movies in full high-definition resolution—the current DVD format can only display standard definition. In addition to the upgrade in video, the audio quality of both formats can be truly spectacular when used with a quality home theater system, surpassing even HD television itself in fidelity and impact.

What’s the downside?
Here’s the bad news. To get that improved fidelity, you have to choose  between either a Blu-ray player or an HD DVD player, and you won’t be able to play certain studios’ movies on either one. For example, if you’re a sci-fi fan and want to watch The Fifth Element (distributed by Sony Pictures), you’ll need a Blu-ray player. But if you want to watch Serenity (distributed by Universal), you’ll need an HD DVD player.

Yes, combo players that can handle both formats are available, but they currently cost more than actually purchasing two players— one for each format!