Microsoft and Intel now officially backing the HD-DVD

By Ross Miller

Microsoft and Intel, while generally have remained neutral on the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray issue (although Microsoft has hinted at an HD-DVD upgrade to its Xbox 360 sometime after its launch), both companies have now officially thrown their support behind Toshiba's next-generation disc format. Tom's Hardware Guide spoke with Jordi Ribas, Microsoft's director of technology strategy for Windows Digital Media. Ribas told THG that their decision to choose HD-DVD over Blu-Ray, surprisingly, was only made a few days ago, and here are a few of the reasons he outlined:

  • The ability to make authorized legal copies of the disc and disc's content – Blu-Ray is uncommited to allowing
    this.

  • Support for DVD/HD-DVD hybrid discs that would make it a smoother transition for the consumers – again, Blu-Ray
    has yet to deliver on this, according to Ribas.

  • Lower production costs – especially after

    this     report that a few big-name Chinese DVD player makers have announced support for HD-DVD.

  • Oddly enough, Ribas claims that HD-DVD will actually have larger storage capacity than Blu-Ray. According to
    Ribas, "[capacity] used to be the biggest advantage of Blu-ray, and we believed it....but it's not happening, and
    it's nowhere in sight. There are not even pilots. It's only in the lab that they are building these discs."

It used to be that Sony's major claim over HD-DVD was its larger disc storage space, but Ribas believes that in regards to tested capacity, "HD DVD-ROM actually leads BD-ROM by a score of 30 GByte to 25 GByte. Despite all these claims, true or not, the format wars will not be one on technical merit, but image and company backing. Let's just hope a clear winner is found quickly so that the consumer does not get totally screwed over.

[Thanks, Spartacus]

Recommended