For High Definition TVs, Blu-ray Gets a Big(1/2)

Competition often means waiting for people to make a choice. That was the case with VCRs, video cassette recorders. During the nineteen eighties, people had two choices: VHS and Betamax. The VHS format won the competition. Betamax disappeared from all but professional use.

More recently, the VHS, or video home system, format has been disappearing as people choose DVD players.

But now the two newest kinds of DVD players are in competition. Blu-ray and HD DVD are both designed for use with definition " class="hjdict" word="high definition " target=_blank>high definition televisions. These produce bigger, sharper pictures. They work best when showing movies or TV programs made in true high definition.But high def takes up more memory, so a new kind of DVD, digital video or versatile disc, was needed.

Blu-ray and HD DVD are similar in technology. Both use a blue laser to read the information on the disc. But HD DVDs cost less to produce. They can be made with existing equipment, while Blu-ray DVDs cannot. But a Blu-ray disc holds more memory: about fifty gigabytes compared to thirty gigabytes for an HD DVD.

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竞争常意味着等待人们做出选择。比如VCR-卡带式录像机的例子，20世纪80年代，人们有两种选择：VHS制式和betamax制式。最终VHS制式赢取了这场竞赛。随后betamax制式从所有非专业应用领域中销声匿迹。

而更近段时间，VHS（家庭视频系统）格式也随着人们选择dvd播放器逐渐消失。

如今2种最新类型的dvd播放器又走上了竞争的舞台。蓝光和HD DVD都是为高清晰视频的应用而设计的。他们能提供更大更锐丽的图像。他们在播放真正的高清电视节目和电影时表现最佳。但是高清需要更多的内存，因此需要一类新的数字视频或通用碟片（DVD）。

在技术上蓝光和HD DVD是相似的。都是使用蓝色激光读取碟片上的数据。但是HD DVD制造成本更低。它可以通过现有设备生产而蓝光DVD是不行的。但是蓝光碟片可以刻录更大容量-大约50G，而HD DVD最多只可以记录30G的数据。

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