I run a high-end home theater store, and I can tell you we sell 10 Blu-Ray players for every HD DVD player. The software side, HD DVD movies seem to outsell Blu-Ray, according to the trade mags I get, which makes little sense. Sony's CEO said this week that it was unfortunately still a stalemate. I can tell you that I'm hopeful for Blu-Ray to win, since the larger disc capacity will last longer before being replaced.
It's not an answer, I know. I'd like to think BluRay can win since it seems HD DVD seems to be bribing studios ($150 million to Paramount) to not release on BluRay. But despite all this, I haven't bought a player yet for my personal theater, in either format.
Blu-Ray all the way! With the utmost CE manufacturer support and studio support, blu-ray has the advantage in the long run.
Ed: The trade mag you're getting may be wrong. The trade mag that we check actually has blu-ray far ahead of HD-DVD by almost 2:1 sales records since inception and since the beginnig of 2007. You can check them out at http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom111807/index.php, which was last week's numbers. Tomorrow will be different. Also, the stalemate comment from Sony's CEO was taken out of context. Please read the full context of what he said here at The Digital Bits at http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa146.html#stringer.
Personally I got weary of the debate (and delaying DVD purchases while waiting for things to settle) and went out and bought a butt-kicking home media PC capable of reading both formats. I think the ignorant goons in the two consortiums underestimated the ability and will of the computer industry to circumvent something as trivial as a media format.
In practice, only the most devoted geek can fully appreciate the differences between formats. HD-DVD does have more native support for additional Web-driven features but this doesn't seem to me like something that can't be matched with a little software development.
The main problem is that with some studios releasing movies exclusively on one format or the other, a user with a player that reads one format may find themselves unable to buy certain movies in HD (though players in either camp both support legacy DVD).
I don't have any first-hand experience of either myself but a popular site that follows film and tv on digital formats, The Digital Bits, has come out reluctantly in support of Blu-ray and they explain why. It's a pretty informative read.
hmmmm
This is what I do, so...
I run a high-end home theater store, and I can tell you we sell 10 Blu-Ray players for every HD DVD player. The software side, HD DVD movies seem to outsell Blu-Ray, according to the trade mags I get, which makes little sense. Sony's CEO said this week that it was unfortunately still a stalemate. I can tell you that I'm hopeful for Blu-Ray to win, since the larger disc capacity will last longer before being replaced.
It's not an answer, I know. I'd like to think BluRay can win since it seems HD DVD seems to be bribing studios ($150 million to Paramount) to not release on BluRay. But despite all this, I haven't bought a player yet for my personal theater, in either format.
Blu-Ray all the way!
Blu-Ray all the way! With the utmost CE manufacturer support and studio support, blu-ray has the advantage in the long run.
Ed: The trade mag you're getting may be wrong. The trade mag that we check actually has blu-ray far ahead of HD-DVD by almost 2:1 sales records since inception and since the beginnig of 2007. You can check them out at http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom111807/index.php, which was last week's numbers. Tomorrow will be different. Also, the stalemate comment from Sony's CEO was taken out of context. Please read the full context of what he said here at The Digital Bits at http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa146.html#stringer.
KC
Maintainer of Luke MacFarlane OnlineThe difference.
Ah, the VHS/Beta War all over again...
Personally I got weary of the debate (and delaying DVD purchases while waiting for things to settle) and went out and bought a butt-kicking home media PC capable of reading both formats. I think the ignorant goons in the two consortiums underestimated the ability and will of the computer industry to circumvent something as trivial as a media format.
In practice, only the most devoted geek can fully appreciate the differences between formats. HD-DVD does have more native support for additional Web-driven features but this doesn't seem to me like something that can't be matched with a little software development.
The main problem is that with some studios releasing movies exclusively on one format or the other, a user with a player that reads one format may find themselves unable to buy certain movies in HD (though players in either camp both support legacy DVD).
The Digital Bits chose Blu-ray...
I don't have any first-hand experience of either myself but a popular site that follows film and tv on digital formats, The Digital Bits, has come out reluctantly in support of Blu-ray and they explain why. It's a pretty informative read.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/soapbox/soap060107.html
hmmm