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The Curious Bag
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HD DVD, or high-density digital versatile disc, was the next step after standard DVD along with the competing Blu-ray, which won the format war when it drove HD DVD out of the market.
Basics
Like other kinds of DVDs, HD DVDs encoded their information as tiny divots on their surface. The laser in the player read the divots as digital code, constituting the sound and image of the film.
More Space
HD DVD players used a more focused laser than standard DVD players. The divots of information on a disc's surface were much smaller than those on a standard DVD, so the HD DVD could carry more information.
History
HD DVD was developed by Toshiba and NEC, which proposed the format in 2002. The first prototype was introduced in October of that year.
Blu-Ray Competition
The rival Blu-ray format, developed by Sony, had many of the same features as HD DVD. Blu-ray began development earlier than HD DVD, however, and thus was able to reach the market more quickly.
Obsolescence
A number of movie companies backed HD DVDs--including Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal and HBO. They eventually jumped ship for Blu-ray, however--most notably in early 2008, when Warner publicly announced it was abandoning the HD DVD format, essentially killing it.
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