After some research into it I decided on getting the HD-DVD set.  Its not that I have anything against Blu-ray  but I have found that some HD-DVD releases have some more extra features and I am a real sucker for extras.  The extra amount of space on Blu-ray didn't really change much for me because when you think about it, it only really gives an advantage for the PC industry.   There are only so many hours of film I could sit and watch without a break so having a really large movie disc doesn't make that much sense.  HD-DVD discs are cheaper to make so it is just as easy to include another disc than to cram everything on the one.

Bitrate I assume refers to improved picture quality?  Now that we have High Defenition picture will it really make that much difference if one is slightly better than the other?  That goes for sound too.  At the moment the sound in movies is pretty darn good so how much more improvment is possible?  We are getting to the point where it is going to cost you a lot of extra money to get a little improvment in performance so it really isn't worth it.  Besides all that I would assume that both parties would work to improve their format over time, so not knowing what the future holds, trying to guess which one will have the better features overall in the end is pointless.

One important point that needs to be made about blu-ray is that fact that most of its install base consists of  PS3 units.  Even after you determine how many of those PS3 owners will actually buy any movies you need to accept the fact that very few of those people would've bought the console for the fact they can play blu-ray movies on it.  A great majority of them would be just gamers and are going to be far more interested in building their games collection than gaining a good collection of blu-ray movies.  On the other hand, those who buy stand alone players are obviously people who are interested in only movies and will likely buy plenty of them.  HD-DVD is clearly winning in player sales.

 Another thing the blu-ray group needs to worry about is image.  It won't be long until blu-ray becomes closely associated with the PS3 and the PS3 is a games machine.  It is not a home theatre system and not many people will buy it for that purpose.  At the moment there are high blu-ray sales because the PS3 is new and owners are proud and curious with being able to play HD movies on it.  You can expect blu-ray sales to be high in the near future but will eventualy fade while the HD-DVD will ramp up sales in the longer term.  HD-DVD will not become associated to the X360 game system in people minds like blu-ray will, and that means it will be seen as more of an official HD format and consumers will accept it better.

Anyway, I havn't actually bought a player yet and I will probably wait for the dual format players to become cheap which means my brand new Blade Runner Collectors set will be gathering dust probably for at least another year.  I had to buy it now though because it is a limited edition.

This has been an opinon from an average consumer with not that much interest in technical specifications and who just wants to enjoy a good movie now and in the future.

Just one exclusive, and almost everything else for both sides, how was this supposed to be HD-DVD's week?

And how is 61% horrible, when it's a better margin than last week? 

This was supposed to be HD DVD's week because

1) Bourne Ultimatum, a huge exclusive was released for HD DVD

It was a hit, but more than Transformers or Pirates 3?

2) Blu-Ray had no major exclusive release

Sales don't just come from new releases, as charts have shown.

3) HD DVD had a BOGO (Buy One Get One) sales
4) Blu-Ray had no BOGO sale that week

It did. One for Best Buy, and one for Amazon. They weren't major, but they were there.

Now if you recall, it was most likely due to Blu-Ray's first BOGO sale during the release week of Transformers that allowed Blu-Ray to just beat out HD DVD by 51:49.

So if HD DVD ever had any chance to win, with a major exclusive and BOGO on the same week, it would have been the week of Bourne Ultimatum. This was supposed to be HD DVD's week.

Just one exclusive, and almost everything else for both sides, how was this supposed to be HD-DVD's week?

And how is 61% horrible, when it's a better margin than last week?

After some research into it I decided on getting the HD-DVD set. Its not that I have anything against Blu-ray but I have found that some HD-DVD releases have some more extra features and I am a real sucker for extras. The extra amount of space on Blu-ray didn't really change much for me because when you think about it, it only really gives an advantage for the PC industry. There are only so many hours of film I could sit and watch without a break so having a really large movie disc doesn't make that much sense. HD-DVD discs are cheaper to make so it is just as easy to include another disc than to cram everything on the one.

Bitrate I assume refers to improved picture quality? Now that we have High Defenition picture will it really make that much difference if one is slightly better than the other? That goes for sound too. At the moment the sound in movies is pretty darn good so how much more improvment is possible? We are getting to the point where it is going to cost you a lot of extra money to get a little improvment in performance so it really isn't worth it. Besides all that I would assume that both parties would work to improve their format over time, so not knowing what the future holds, trying to guess which one will have the better features overall in the end is pointless.

One important point that needs to be made about blu-ray is that fact that most of its install base consists of PS3 units. Even after you determine how many of those PS3 owners will actually buy any movies you need to accept the fact that very few of those people would've bought the console for the fact they can play blu-ray movies on it. A great majority of them would be just gamers and are going to be far more interested in building their games collection than gaining a good collection of blu-ray movies. On the other hand, those who buy stand alone players are obviously people who are interested in only movies and will likely buy plenty of them. HD-DVD is clearly winning in player sales.

Another thing the blu-ray group needs to worry about is image. It won't be long until blu-ray becomes closely associated with the PS3 and the PS3 is a games machine. It is not a home theatre system and not many people will buy it for that purpose. At the moment there are high blu-ray sales because the PS3 is new and owners are proud and curious with being able to play HD movies on it. You can expect blu-ray sales to be high in the near future but will eventualy fade while the HD-DVD will ramp up sales in the longer term. HD-DVD will not become associated to the X360 game system in people minds like blu-ray will, and that means it will be seen as more of an official HD format and consumers will accept it better.

Anyway, I havn't actually bought a player yet and I will probably wait for the dual format players to become cheap which means my brand new Blade Runner Collectors set will be gathering dust probably for at least another year. I had to buy it now though because it is a limited edition.

This has been an opinon from an average consumer with not that much interest in technical specifications and who just wants to enjoy a good movie now and in the future.