Monday, February 13, 2006
Blu-ray vs 12x DVD: Read Speed
Posted by Jeremy Charette in "HARDWARE" @ 06:00 AM
"At 2x Blu-ray can read as fast as 12x DVD's minimum read speed. At just 3x Blu-ray is comparable to DVD at 12x; through the first half of the disc 3x Blu-ray is faster, through the second half of the disc 12x DVD is faster. And at only 4x Blu-ray manages to best a 12x DVD's maximum read speed by 9%."
Actually, the statement above is slightly incorrect. Most commercial mastered DVDs read from outside-in, so the first half of the disc would be faster than a 3X blu-ray drive. Why should you care? To save money, Sony will likely spec. a 1X or 2X blu-ray drive for the PS3. Since most DVD games for the Xbox 360 are only using 25-30% of the disc's capacity, all of the game data is on the outer edge of the disc. This means significantly longer load times for the PS3 than the Xbox 360. DVD drives also have quicker search and access times than blu-ray drives. The 360 will not only be able to read data from the game disc faster, it'll also be able to find it faster. Sony has two options: pre-cache disc data on the hard drive (unlikely), or put a 4X drive in it and drive the price even further into the stratosphere.
Actually, the statement above is slightly incorrect. Most commercial mastered DVDs read from outside-in, so the first half of the disc would be faster than a 3X blu-ray drive. Why should you care? To save money, Sony will likely spec. a 1X or 2X blu-ray drive for the PS3. Since most DVD games for the Xbox 360 are only using 25-30% of the disc's capacity, all of the game data is on the outer edge of the disc. This means significantly longer load times for the PS3 than the Xbox 360. DVD drives also have quicker search and access times than blu-ray drives. The 360 will not only be able to read data from the game disc faster, it'll also be able to find it faster. Sony has two options: pre-cache disc data on the hard drive (unlikely), or put a 4X drive in it and drive the price even further into the stratosphere.
