Blu-ray or HD-DVD?
This HD format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is heading into its second year and my gut feeling, is that Blu-ray is winning. As a consumer I tend to notice Blu-ray discs (Spider-Man 3, Ratatouille, Cars) more than HD-DVD discs.
Did you know that Blockbuster and Target are promoting Blu-ray discs and not HD-DVD? Steve Spielberg’ first film to be released in HD (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) is only available in the Blu-ray format. Disney, Fox and MGM have announced a slew of Blu-ray titles for next year (many of them exclusive to Blu-ray).
The Digital Bits endorses the Blu-ray format and advises people not to invest in an HD-DVD players and discs.
HD-DVD is not going to win this format war. In fact, one of two things is possible right now: Either Blu-ray will win, or neither format will win. But the best HD-DVD can hope for is to just keep hanging in the game as long as possible.
Industry rumours say that Microsoft is financially subsidizing HD-DVD losses for Toshiba and Universal. Microsoft has an HD-DVD player in the XBox 360 and HD-DVD uses a Microsoft video codec. Isn’t it ironic that Microsoft is backing the weaker system (think Vista).
The more I read about it, the more I think Blu-ray is the clear winner here. I’m going to hold off getting a Blu-ray DVD player but it is very, very tempting when it comes to purchasing new DVD releases. For now I’ll wait and see how things play out.
Stumble It!Posted in Home Theatre and Movies at 12:20 AM
Comments
But, but, but…don’t the players play both?
Posted by: Paul on November 14, 2007 11:58 AM
Blu-ray appeals to me as a data format. Mid to high end sony laptops come with BR drives; the discs hold around 50 gigs. Apple is rumoured to be including BR drives soon as well. Data is my killer app.
Posted by: Ryan on November 14, 2007 11:59 AM
Blu-ray and HD-DVD definitely don’t play both. They will play regular DVDs and CDs.
I think there was a player released by one manufacturer for $1,000 earlier in the year and it played both formats. Even then, you have two formats of DVDs to purchase, one of which will become obsolete when the hardware format is decided.
Most of what I’ve been reading indicates that Blu-ray has more legs and will probably win out. Buy a Blu-ray disc today and you probably won’t be stuck with what amounts to a Betamax tape.
Posted by: jay 
on November 14, 2007 12:32 PM
I remember when SACD and DVD-Audio came out. It was a similar kind of game. The manufacturers adopted players that played both in short order, making the format war a moot point. That will happen here as well. I suspect this Christmas we will see sub-$500 players that play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Of course, virtually no-one talks about either SACD or DVD-Audio anymore…
Posted by: Paul on November 16, 2007 12:12 AM
