The (Almost) Obligatory Essay
on Blu-ray and HD DVD
 This year, two new formats for
the delivery of high-definition video and audio will premiere. The first players that use
the Blu-ray technology will be released in May, while March saw the first release of an
HD DVD player. I could not care less.
The Blu-ray format was developed by the Blu-ray
Association, comprising electronics companies such as Sony, Philips, and Samsung, and
computer companies including Apple and Dell. Unlike the CD and DVD, which rely on
red-laser technology, Blu-ray relies on blue-violet lasers. Because blue-violet light has
a shorter wavelength than red light, it can be focused more tightly, which means more data
can be squeezed into the same area and still be accurately read. A single-layer DVD can
hold 4.7GB, a single-layer Blu-ray disc 25GB. The prices of three Blu-ray players have
already been set: a Samsung model due in May will retail for $1000 USD, a Pioneer model
will come in June for $1800, and July will see a Sony design for $1000. While a good
number of film studios have signed on to the format, including Warner Bros., Walt Disney,
and Paramount, the first batch of Blu-ray titles curiously includes such lackluster fare
as xXx, Hitch, and The Punisher.
HD DVD has the same disc structure as DVD, which
ensures backward compatibility -- something not guaranteed with Blu-ray.
HD DVD’s data-storage capacity is 15GB for a single-layer disc. HD DVD is
favored by Toshiba and NEC -- and Microsoft, who recently announced that it will support
an external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360. Toshiba set release dates for their first
two players for last month, but I’ve yet to see them on store shelves. The less
expensive model retails for $499.99 -- a lot more affordable than the Blu-ray players
announced so far. Paramount, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. have committed to
releasing films on the format. HD DVD seems to have had better luck than Blu-ray in being
launched with films that have large audiences, such as Batman Begins and Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- but was anyone really clamoring for an HD DVD
version of Constantine?
The biggest competition for both of the new formats will
be, of course, the DVD, which has three important things in its favor: It can be made (and
sold) very cheaply, it has saturated the market, and it’s good enough for the great
majority of people. Inexpensive DVD players are easily available for as little as $35, and
disc prices average less than $20. Even a player with HDMI and DVI outputs that can
upconvert images to 720p or 1080i is regularly available at Costco for $70. For the $1000
you’d spend on one of the first Blu-ray players, you could buy a DVD player and 45
DVDs, or a player and more than three years’ membership in Netflix, the national
mail-order DVD-rental service.
Remember SACD and DVD-Audio? Given their uninspiring
performance in the marketplace, perhaps you don’t. They were going to be wonderful --
"veils would fall," and audiophile clichés would fail to describe what these
new audio formats could provide. But what the formats’ developers failed to account
for was that most people were perfectly happy with CDs and DVD-Videos, and felt no need
for high-resolution audio formats.
My relationship with SACD has been of the love/hate
variety. Multichannel SACD is excellent when done right, really annoying when done wrong.
Very expensive SACD players can make a rather noticeable improvement in the playback of
CDs, but a well-made CD player can easily trump a less expensive, similarly priced SACD
machine. The minute I compared my Sony SCE-775 SACD player with a Rotel RCD-1070 CD player
-- the Sony playing the SACD layer of a hybrid disc and the Rotel playing the same
disc’s CD layer -- it was easy to hear that the Rotel sounded much better. If your CD
player sounds better, doesn’t cost much more, and doesn’t need new software, who
needs the hassle of SACDs?
Lately, people who know I write about audio and home
theater have begun to ask me about Blu-ray and HD DVD. I answer by asking them two
questions. So far, the answer to my first question -- are you happy with the performance
of your DVD player? -- has always been "Yes." When I ask Question No.2 -- are
you happy with your CD player (or iPod) for music playback? -- while not everyone says
"Yes," most respond that they are content with what they have. So I tell them,
"Ignore the new formats. Enjoy what you have, and, if you must buy something
new, get a better CD player or upgrade your television."
I might be proved wrong about Blu-ray and HD DVD, but
one thing I’m not wrong about is the excellent performance of the latest portable
headphone amplification products from HeadRoom, the Micro Amp and Micro DAC -- the
subjects of this month’s GoodSound! equipment review. If you’re already
using your computer for audio, then the Micro DAC might be your next step toward
high-quality music reproduction. And the Micro Amp can be used right alongside the Micro
DAC, or alone with any other source. These HeadRoom products show that you don’t need
new formats to impress people and get their business -- you just need to provide good
performance at a good price.
…Eric D. Hetherington
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