(1) DVDs are the current standard for data storage, and perhaps more importantly the publishing format standard as well. The question is however, how much longer will they be sufficient? A much anticipated battle, or 'format war' if you will, is in progress similar to that seen in the 1980's between VHS and Betamax. This time around the same companies have fallen into the same camps and war is ensuing between Blu-ray and HD DVD technology.
In an effort to maximize the quality of DVD for display on today's HDTVs, many manufacturers have introduced upscaling capabilities through DVI and/or HDMI output connections on newer DVD players. Upscaling is a process that mathematically matches the pixel count of the output of the DVD signal to the physical pixel count on an HDTV, which is typically 1280x720 (720p), 1920x1080 (1080i), or 1920x1080p (1080p).
The upscaling process does a good job of matching the upscaled pixel output of a DVD player to the native pixel display resolution of an HDTV capable television, resulting in better detail and color consistency. However, upscaling cannot convert standard DVD images into true high-definition images. In fact, although upscaling works well with fixed pixel displays, results are not always consistent on CRT-based high definition televisions.
(2) Blu-ray Disc (BD) is one of the next-generation optical disc formats currently being proposed. The technology was developed by a group of companies working under the name Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The main supporter of this technology is Sony. As you can tell by now, the main competitor to Blu-ray technology is HD DVD, which is backed chiefly by Toshiba.
HD DVD has been recognized as the only format of approved next-generation technology by the DVD Forum. Members of this forum include every big name in music, movies and the computer industries, while Toshiba is the organization maintaining the forum. The vote to name HD DVD as the successor of DVD technology was 8 to 6, and many of the companies within the forum are backing Blu-ray technology.
