HD DVD and Blu Ray Hits Costa Rica
If you are of the age when VHS was all the rage and celebrated the introduction of the DVD disc, you will certainly be left speechless with the new generation of media called HD DVD and Bluray.

Beginning Sunday this new technology will be available in Costa Rica and the new techonology story Play will have it all.

HD DVD, or High-Definition DVD is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of data and high-definition video, designed to be the successor to the standard DVD format.

HD DVD can store about three times as much data as its predecessor (15 GB per layer instead of 4.7 GB). The HD DVD standard was jointly developed by Toshiba and NEC.in November 19, 2003, when the DVD Forum voted to support HD DVD as the high definition successor of the standard DVD. At this meeting, they also renamed it HD DVD. The format had previously been called the "Advanced Optical Disc" (AOD).

As far as hardware compatibility, "Backward compatibility" will be available with all HD DVD players, allowing users to have a single player in their homes to play all types of HD DVD, DVD and CD discs.

A Blu-ray Disc (also called BD) is a high-density optical disc format for the storage of digital media, including high-definition video. The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red, 650 nm laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 GB, over 5 times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB.

Blu-ray Disc is currently in a "format war" with rival format HD DVD.

If you want to see the new formats in action, Play stores in the Paseo de Las Flores (Heredia) and Zapote will begin demonstrating and selling the new technology.

Carlos Monge, president of Grupo M, owner of Play (and the Importatora Monge) says that his stores will be only to offer this technology at this time.