Comparison of high definition optical disc formats Comparison of high definition optical disc formats This article compares the technical specifications of multiple high definition formats, including HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc; two mutually incompatible, high definition optical disc formats that, beginning in 2006, attempted to improve upon and eventually replace the DVD standard. The two formats remained in a format war until February 19, 2008 when Toshiba, HD DVD's creator, announced plans to cease development, manufacturing and marketing of HD DVD players and recorders. Other high-definition optical disc formats were attempted, including the multi-layered red-laser Versatile Multilayer Disc and a Chinese made format called EVD. Both appear
Optical disc authoring recorders. There are, however, stand-alone devices like personal video recorders which can also author and record discs. Use of optical disc recorders require "optical disc authoring software", sometimes called "burning applications" or "burner applications". Such software is usually sold with the recorder. Some operating systems come bundled with them. Creating an optical disc usually involves first creating an optical disc image with a full file system designed for the optical disc, and then actually burning the image to the disc. Many programs create the disc image and burn in one bundled application (Quick Copy or Copy On-the-fly), such that end-users