HD-DVD or BluRay?

[Scruff7]

another break down of current issues and trends:

Similar number of 'exclusive' studios so there's no real way of deciphering which is best on that issue, however, there are romours afoot that suggest Warner is going exclusive blu-ray since sales of their movies on blu ray are far better than HDDVD. also see quote below:

"Five consumer electronics companies - Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, and Philips - and five movie studios - Gaumont, Columbia Tristar, Walt Disney, Pathé, and Warner Home Video - have come together to promote the Blu-ray format in France. Together, they will act as a unified voice to convince consumers of the benefits of Blu-ray.
They have set a goal to get 600,000 units (stand-alone players and PS3s) in French homes by year end, capturing 90% of the high definition player market. As for software sales, Blu-ray currently holds over 60% of the market in France, and if their player sales goals are achieved, that figure is expected to rise to 80%."


Blu ray is more expensive for the player, but the discs cost the same. and according to http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/ the average price of Blu-ray is cheaper.

you can get dedicated players now for the same price as the PS3 with free disks.

you can get the HDDVD add on for the 360, but together is more expensive than the PS3 alone (and i believe, far uglier!).

Blu Ray Disks are larger. they can fit everything onto one disc, and larger discs are in development. this is an important aspect of Blu-ray, it doesn't matter what size disk you use, your player can play it. not the case on HDDVD where the majority can only take up to a certain size (therefore the consumer released movie disk size will be limited).

Disk size has caused problems already for HD DVD, even at the start of the Format War - HDDVD are already having to release movies+extras on multiple disks, and not enough information for High Definition can be incuded on one disc - for Transformers, they were limited in the quality of sound for the movie - not a really a problem unless you own top of the range audio equipment, but if it's a problem now, imagine what that will be like in 5 years time.... see link: http://www.n4g.com/News-74839.aspx

Finally, sales of discs. The PS3 may not be selling massively for the console industry, but it has MASSIVELY helped the format war. there are 5 million blu ray players out there, all those console gamers now buying blu-ray disks is causing a stir. blu ray sales already outstrip HDDVD sales: http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/

In the USA Blockbuster (US's largest video rental company) have already gone exclusive on Blu Ray due to lack of demand and high prices for HDDVDs, and in the UK, it's hard to find HD DVD anywhere but the big retail stores. where HDDVDs are available, they are usually limited in comparison to the range of Blu Rays available.

your best bet is dual format, but thats a lot of money to spend, especially if one of the formats dies off...