Like the legendary (if lopsided) battle between VHS and BetaMax, Blu-ray and HD-DVD are each striving to win the next format war.  It is early in the format war, but here are some quick differences for you to know between the two formats without all the technical aspects of these discs.

HD-DVD and Blu-ray are different forms of the high-definition DVD formats.  These new formats offer an upgrade in visuals when compared to this generation’s DVD and especially when compared to VHS.  Though both these formats are getting a lot of hype in the media (partially because of the XBOX 360 and the Playstation 3), what is the real difference?  The Playstation 3 supports Blu-ray and the XBOX 360 will support HD-DVD, but if you don’t play video games, what is the difference to you the consumer?

Large companies and movie studies majority support Sony's Blu-ray over HD-DVD because of the discs security, though this is only one aspect of the “war” – and even that aspect is up personal debate.  A big difference between HD-DVD and Blu-ray (pre-PS3) is the cost of the players.  HD-DVD players and media are less expensive, though it starting to look like Blu-ray may be technically superior over HD-DVD in that it has more data space than HD-DVD, which equals more content to the consumer.  On the flip side, Blu-ray media is more expensive to produce, which hits the pocket book hard.

Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference.  Sony has lost a format war once by trying to force consumers to "buy-in" to their product.  It looks as if we have VHS versus BetaMax all over again, and this is a format war you may want to wait and see how it turns out.