Here it's almost 2008, and the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray doesn't look any more resolved...but just wait for the spin.
Who’ve have thought we’d be collectively eyeing the end of of 2007 and there would still be no clear high-definition disc format widely accepted by consumers? Although we’re sure the new year will bring all manner of self-congratulatory and chest-thumping press press releases from both camps—particularly as the all-important Consumer Electronics Show launches in Las Vegas in January—the bottom line is that Blu-ray and HD DVD are still at a stalemate and, for the most part, consumers seem content to sit out the “high-def revolution” until things settle down.
For folks keeping score, here’s roughly where things stand:
- The Blu-ray camp is generally seen to be leading in overall disc sales, althought the technology is having trouble moving its more-expensive standalone disc players. The PlayStation 3 is the absolutely best-selling Blu-ray device on the market, and what few people are buying PS3s (at least, in comparison to Wiis) seem to be buying them for gaming purposes, rather than movie-watching. On the content front, movie studios Sony, Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate exclusively offer titles in Blu-ray format, and the camp is looking to titles like Spider-Man 3 to push Blu-ray over the top.
- The HD DVD camp still has tech giant Microsoft on its side, and has exclusive content partnerships with Universal Studios, Weinstein, and more recently Paramount, which stopped Blu-ray production in favor of HD DVD. (The only fence-sitter at this point is Warner Brothers, which offers both movies in both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats, although not all titles are available in both.) However, the HD DVD camp is the clear leader in terms of standalone players, with prices for Toshiba’s HD-A2 dipping below $100 at leading U.S. retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy over the holiday season, bringing an estimated 100,000 new households into the HD DVD camp.
Amid all the hubbub, it’s worth noting that total sales for both HD DVD and Blu-ray are still hopelessly dwarfed by the sales of standard DVDs and DVD players: although the technologies have been duking it out for a year now, consumers aren’t embracing either in significant numbers.
Industry watchers predict more consumers will opt-in to a high-definition disc format as they upgrade to HD-capable TVs in larger numbers. The more consumers experience high-definition content, they reason, they more they’ll want to get a high-definition disc player of one stripe or another. However, other pundits are wondering of the high-definition disc battle may be outflanked by broadband delivery of high-definition content, whether from cable and satellite operators or via the Internet. It could be that consumers will never adopt a disc format in significant numbers, and instead opt for services that bring high-definition content directly to their homes.
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RSSI was at the store the other day watching some Blu-ray demo disc playing a bunch of Blu-ray movie clips on an outstanding Sony HDTV, and I was absolutely FLOORED at how clear the visuals were. In fact, I was almost startled at the clarity of the tiniest details onscreen. HD video is finally allowing viewers to see the film in almost the exact same quality as the film makers shot it in. The picture truly looked like a beautiful 'National Geographic' quality still photo, but it was moving film!
The problem is that most people out there haven't got a clue what they are buying and are simply jumping on the proverbial band wagon in a rush to buy big screen TVs which in my opinion, unless you spend a fortune and know what you are doing, are total crap. My 10 year old 32" Sony CRT kicks the pants off most LCD and Plasma screens that are retailing at £1000/$2300 mark.
If all you are doing is watching TV then Hi Def is a waste of time for anyone who owns a Tv that is less than say 40".
The stores are even worse!!! The staff pull these TVs out of their box and don't bother their backside to set them up properly. None of them understand what Gamma does or colour temperature works, sharpness or how to adjust any of the settings correctly which results in a totally crap example of the TVs performance, still there is a whole bunch of customers standing goggle eyed with their credit cards in their hands.
My advice is, know what you are doing and get all the information you can before you buy anything because too many people are spending before they are thinking which I believe is contributing to companies who throw hardware and software out like fish bait on their big hooks and waiting for the fish to bite.....
My advice, wait it out. It is not worth the money at this point in time.
As for the war I don't think it is a myth by any means and it does harken back to VHS and Beta and although it may have been impracticle to build a machine that would play both VHS and Beta tapes it could have been done, I think the problem there was Sony would not allow anyone to build units but themselves, after all there are VHS/DVD players out there now it could have been a Beta drawer instead of a DVD tray but I digress the war will continue and as I said I think it will be BD that wins out for its storage capacity after all would you rather produce a set of discs and put them on BD or use nearly twice the number to put it on HD? Companies run on cost and in the end if it is cheaper to do something one way instesd of another that is what will win out. Right now both formats are just trying make money based on who backed what. Checking into some things like what companies own what may clear up some confusion. Studios are going with the companies that fund them or are parent or child companies of the studio so that profits come back to them in the end, its no mystery really just business as usual and the consumer is the one left wondering what to do, the difference this time is you have the alternate players who signed with both camps, LG Samsung etc, that make players that support both formats. While they are pretty expensive now they will come down and then you don't have to choose, the companies who started the war will have to and then it will come down to cost and BD discs will hold more and therefore will cost the companies less to produce product and give them more profit.
But for now go out and buy a couple of cheap players if you choose or go out and buy a dual format player you don't have much choice right now but to get both so you can be sure you can get that movie you wanted in HI DEF but in the end there will be only one........maybe.
Because these two technologies have essentially equal look, sound, and capabilities, people will choose both equally, and have. And because the movie studios have themselves chosen sides they have given us no choice but to choose BOTH technologies, as well.
The two camps would like us to think that we need to choose one OR the other so that they will maximize their return on investment, but we have already and will continue to choose both. This is the bed they've made...
This is not like VHS vs. Beta where the two formats were PHYSICALLY different. It's just a matter of time until both formats are playable everywhere. The movie studios will eventually tire of releasing on two formats and will pick one, but our players will play both eventually.
No format is going to "win", and consumers will not make the wrong choice. Don't let them put that idea in your head!
Search on "compact disc" in Wikipedia and see what will happen.
Mark Hernandez
San Diego, CA
Sony sold 466,000 PS3 consoles, 496,000 PS2 consoles, and 567,000 PSP handhelds in the US in November.
466K PS3's in November alone!!
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