HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray

First let me point out that I have no experience with either format. Here is just some information I got from listening to the podcast.

Here's a very interesting podcast on the subject:
http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2006/07/16/Show-183-The-one-about-HD-DVD.aspx

Granted this is microsoft so it's pro HD-DVD but they did mention some interesting bits:

I'll use B for blu-ray and H for hd-dvd:
B - data closer to the surface, 1.1MM substrate - data - .1 MM substrate
H - uses .6mm - data - .6mm which is the same as DVD
H - the above allows dual sided discs where you have the regular dvd on one side and hd-dvd on the other side. So you can start buying some hd-dvd's today and enjoy the benefits later when you pick up a hd-dvd player later
B - has no such dual format capability.

H - ethernet - internet connectivity + persistant storage is required on every player. This allows full bookmarking + resume features and maybe in the future dynamically d/l HD trailers.
B - optional, up to player manufacturer

- note: both B and H have to support 3 codecs but it's up to the
studios to pick which one they want to use: VC1, Mpeg 4 (h.264), Mpeg2)
- an uncompressed high def movie would take about 1TB of space. bitrate of 1gbps
H - currently all studios have picked VC1 codec which is 2-3X more efficient than mpeg2.
B - all studios have stuck with mpeg2

H - all discs are currently dual layer (30GB. 15GB per layer)
B - only 25GB single layer available. No 50GB dual layer commercially available yet.
- storage + codec choice makes HD-dvd discs look better for now

H - base spec requires the ability to decode two HD streams at the same time. This is for PiP Director Video Commentary type effects and extras.

B - has a faster data transfer rate

- both will use AACS copy protection.
B - has an optional BD+ dynamic copy protection in addition to AACS.