Internal Intel Memo on HD DVD
I ran across an internal Intel employee communication on HD DVD, over at avsforum. It sheds some light on why Intel chose to back HD DVD in the first place and drives home some of my biggest reasons for going with HD DVD.
“We are not supporting HD DVD just for the sake of picking a format. Having the next generation of DVD technology out there is in our best interests, and we think HD DVD has the best chance of being successful.
It is the standard most compatible with previous formats, relies on established materials and manufacturing processes, and provides the most features for consumers.
Traditional CDs and DVDs are manufactured of aluminum and plastic with a spin coat on top. This process has a high yield in manufacturing. HD DVD uses this same manufacturing process.
To counter potential reliability problems with data stored only 0.1 mm below the surface of the substrate, Blu-ray uses a film technique similar to that used in silicon manufacture, adding a hard coat on top of a film similar to cellophane (but of higher quality).
The different materials mean that producing a Blu-ray disk with reliability comparable to an HD DVD disk can add up to 35 percent to the cost of the disk.”
Some may say ‘but Blu-ray discs aren’t that much more than HD DVD’s now’ and while this may be true (for the moment) you have to remember we’re very much in the promotional stages of the format war.
Those higher production cost for Blu-ray discs have to be recouped somewhere. In the long run, I’m afraid that Blu-ray disc prices won’t fall as swiftly as those of HD DVD.
Read the rest of the memo at avsforum.
R.Hollis