Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD faceoff

High-Def Digest has published a very interesting comparison of the movie Training Day, which has been released on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. The review reveals some interesting differences in between the two releases, and in this case it seems that the HD-DVD has an edge in quality and even usability.

Of course both of these next generation formats are still rather immature, and only available playback devices are the Samsung BD-P1000 and the Toshiba HD-XA1. This means that some of the differences could be due to the different playback devices, both of them being rather immature products, or possibly the mastering process from the studio originals to the new formats. Still the findings in this comparison are quite interesting, so check it out.

Whatever its merits as a film, ‘Training Day’ has made history by becoming one of the first titles to be released on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. In our first head-to-head comparison, we found the HD DVD to be superior. The unfortunate cropping of the Blu-ray image, coupled with more noticeable compression artifacts and an overall darker cast, can’t compete with the more consistently pleasing presentation of the HD DVD. Also a strike against the Blu-ray version is that both the Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital-Plus soundtracks have been dropped in favor of plain old Dolby Digital, and even the disc’s menu navigation is more clunky and with less interactive functionality. Certainly, this Blu-ray release delivers fine video quality in its own right, but the format’s backers will need to step it up if they are going to win the hearts and minds of early adopters over HD DVD.

Source: High-Def Digest