A delve into the per-gigabyte cost of high-definition doesn't shed a winner in the format war
Earlier this week Wesley Novack posted a blog detailing the costs involved with producing
high-definition media. More importantly, he focuses on the cost difference
between both media.
Novack notes that between three sources, the per-gigabyte cost of Blu-ray media
runs between $0.045 and $0.056 per gigabyte while the per-gigabyte cost of HD DVD
media runs between $0.064 and $0.077 per gigabyte. Furthermore, Novack
adds that single-layer media tends to lower this cost; most Blu-ray titles are
single-layer and most HD DVD titles are dual-layer.
These figures actually tip the scales in favor of Blu-ray as the choice for
authoring. However, none of these per-unit costs take into consideration the
licensing, authoring and setup. In
part two of his analyses, Novack's sources indicate that these upfront costs
actually level the playing field considerably. By the end of his
analysis, Novack claims the cost of producing single-layer Blu-ray and dual-layer
HD DVD production costs are identical.
All data collected by Novack is limited to a relatively small scale; 10,000 disc
batches. Regardless of his methodology, economies of scale dictate that
the cost per-gigabyte on SL BRD and DL HD DVD will remain the cheapest media as
those two formats are the highest volume sellers right now.
After all, let's consider that Neilson VideoScan claims Blu-ray outsold HD DVD almost three-to-one in
January. Even with the higher upfront costs, this will result in a
lower cost to consumers in the long run.
Unfortunately, none of this indicates that a winner will emerge from the format
war anytime soon. With two formats posting nearly identical costs for
reasonable batches, the argument that one format would win on base cost alone
isn't treading water right now.
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