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Informative Articles

Dish Network Vs Directv - Race For Top Is On
If you have taken sane decision to replace your cable TV with the Satellite TV, one thing is sure that you won’t look back in regret. In fact you would regret for depriving yourself of this modern technology for so long. No doubt, more and more...

I Want My Favorite TV Show on DVD
“Get Smart”, “Welcome Back, Kotter”, “One Day at a Time” and other classics are not yet on DVD. Where are these classics? With the explosion of TV Shows on DVD, many fans want to see their favorite TV shows to appear on DVD as well. Since Order DVD...

Some History Facts On Music Videos
Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Artists owe their careers to music videos as they are being given the chance of impressing the public not just with their vocal talent, but also with their looks or moves. Thirty years...

The Beauty Of Video On Demand
Video on Demand is a system where television viewers can access movies anytime they please. The service allows you to select a program from a central server that you can then view at home from your own television. The benefit of Video on Demand is...

What are MP3 files and how do they work?
What are MP3 files and how do they work? MP3 music downoad. If you have read How CDs Work, you understand how musical sounds can be turned into numbers and recorded on a CD. A CD stores music using 44,100 samples per second, 16 bits per...

 
HD-DVD vs Blu-ray: A Primer

High Definition DVD (HD-DVD) vs Blu-ray is shaping up to be a battle to rival the VHS vs Betamax format war of the early eighties. Looking like they've learned nothing from the DVD +/- RW debacle, the companies involved, whether they are in the technology or content distribution industry (or in Sony's case, both), are set to slug it out over the next few years.

The prize is the licence fees that will be payable to the format owners when the next generation of high definition DVD players and recorders start shipping in volume. As high definition television becomes increasingly popular, consumers will want a recordable format that has the capacity to hold at least a couple of hours worth of HDTV content. Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD were developed in response to the anticipated need for an HDTV recording medium and provide content whose quality would match the expectations of HDTV-owning customers. Additionally, the film distribution companies will cash-in as they release all the titles currently available on DVD in one or both of the new formats and convince consumers that they really should chuck out the DVD collection they've spent time and money building and start afresh with the new high definition


Can Cognitive Exercise Speed Up Dementia?
New research suggests that seniors who did mentally stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles postponed the loss of thinking skills, but had an accelerated rate of decline once dementia set in later in life. Neuropsychologist Robert S. Wilson explains the finding.

Stocky Dinosaur With Menacing Toes Unearthed
Reporting in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,</em> researchers describe a new predatory dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period in Europe. <em>Balaur bondoc</em> (Romanian for "stocky dragon") is huskier than its relative the Velociraptor.


versions.

Rather than get together and agree a format for high definition DVD, the industry has split in two and is producing two different versions. In the red corner is Toshiba, which has developed HD-DVD and has signed up numerous film companies as supporters, including Warner Brothers, New Line, Paramount, and Universal Pictures.

In the blue corner, is, if you'll forgive the pun, Sony's Blu-ray. Sony intends to use Blu-ray as the format for the next generation of the PlayStation and has signed up Disney, and MGM, and is expected to add 20th Century Fox to the list.

Currently the major Hollywood studios are split down the middle with almost exactly half of them in each camp.

HD-DVD has been developed by Toshiba and NEC and has the support of the influential DVD Forum, whereas Blu-ray is supported by Phillips, HP, Sharp, Pioneer, Panasonic, and Sonic Solutions.

Microsoft stands to benefit whichever format succeeds as its Windows Media 9 video codec has been approved for use in HD-DVD and Blu-ray content. Apple's H.264 codec has also been approved for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

About the Author

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner