If game consoles are left as the deciding factor of whether HD DVD or Blu-ray is going to win the next generation high def disc format – HD DVD wins!
Any discussion of the next gen format war is controversial at best. But the mood was already established as of last June, with the cover of Sound and Vision magazine proclaiming Toshiba’s HD DVD player “The Best HD Picture They’d Ever Seen!”
Soon comparisons came out between Samsung’s $1000 first Blu-ray player and Toshiba’s $500 first HD DVD player - and the comparisons by and large favored HD DVD.
Early release problems with Blu-ray’s ability to provide dual layer removed Blu-ray's supposed storage advantage over HD DVD. It took till October to see the first 50Gig Blu-ray movie – “Click” with Adam Sandler.
Now that both game consoles that promised a high def disc device have been released, HD DVD has a chance to pull much further into the lead. Microsoft’s $200 HD DVD player add-on has an install base some 10 million units wide. PS3, which has a built in Blu-ray player, has yet to launch the 400K units we’d heard would be ready for the North American market. Some reports say the actual number of PS3s ready for the North American launch is closer to 200K.
If sales on Amazon.com are any indication, HD DVD is well ahead of Blu-ray so far. HD DVD has a strong cost advantage over Blu-ray - the players themselves are built with technology that is closer to DVD, so they consequently run at about half the price in retail. Not to mention HD DVD has a slew of movies that are layered to playback in both DVD and HD DVD formats. It all seems to spell a picture of HD DVD not only taking the lead, but perhaps laying a final killing blow to Blu-ray.
When I walk into my local media store the selection of next gen discs is strongly in favor of HD DVD. I’m not saying the format ‘war’ is over, I’m only saying it doesn’t look good for Blu-ray. Either way it goes, I hope they announce a winner soon, or the observations of Clint at Audioholics will prove prophetic.
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About Wayde
Wayde’s super power is fixing electronics by smacking them. Fixing his way through college he repaired TVs - monitors, stereos and even a pinball machine. He was finally defeated by arch nemesis - Planned Obsolescence in issue #280 and now enjoys super-hero retirement as an editor and gadget blogger.
