A report from the media group Screen Digest that was commented on in today’s Variety edition has suggested that movie studios and television networks will fair better if they don’t chose one DVD format over another when releasing their product on disc.
According to the study HD DVD and Blu-ray formats will gain a stronger foothold by co-existing and unlike the old Betamax versus VHS battle of the 1970’s, there is a large enough worldwide market now to support both Blue-ray and HD DVD without the need to eliminate the other.
Taking their research out to the year 2011, Screen Digest says that any studio or network that chooses to support only one format will be missing out of a significant amount of profit and the cheap availability of creating both Blue-ray and HD DVD discs for sale should not hinder those profits, especially in the ever-growing North American, Mexico and European markets. The loss in profits by choosing just one format for their product could cost a company as much as $270 million (USD) according to the report, and worldwide consumer spending on a combinded market could easily surpass the $1.5 billion (USD) mark in 2008 alone.
“Christmas 2007 is going to be critical for the hi-def video business,” says Richard Cooper, Screen Digest Video Analyst. “Both formats will be seeking to secure consumer buy-in to their proposition during the critical holiday season but with so much at stake on both sides we think it is highly unlikely that one format will emerge as the ‘winner.’ Once it becomes clear that both formats are gaining customer acceptance, studios that have chosen to support one format over the other will realize that they are missing out on potential sales and will have to decide how long they can afford to place principle over profit. We believe that eventually most will decide to offer their titles on both HD DVD and Blu-ray in order to maximize their returns.”
is there somewhere I can get a real side by side comparison of the 2 formats? something that shows the pluses/minuses & the have/have nots of both formats?
There is this article:
http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/19/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-state-of-the-s-union-s-division/
The basics are there is pretty much no big differences in quality. I lean away from Blue Ray because Sony is teh Devil…like fox
And Microsoft isn’t? When the HD-DVD add-on drive for XBOX360 won’t support all the cool interactive features on upcoming discs like the Transformers?
Since I’ll need a new TV for either format thanks to HDMI, I’m in no hurry to pick a side.
One word on Sony v MS inthe evil stakes:
rootkits
I have a PS3 but I don’t buy Blu-ray disks. I just rent through Netflix. Just in case HD-DVD wins in the end I don’t want to have a bunch of obsolete disks.
I don’t agree with this article. I think there is a real possibility there will be a clear winner in time. Sony has most of the movie studios but HD recently picked up Paramount.
I think it will come down to price. If one side can get its players price down to the Wal-Mart levels ($99 – $199); say six months before the other format, it will start to pull ahead. HD-DVD has the lead in this area. HD-DVD’s are also cheaper to manufacture.
AS far as a battle of the evil empires goes, Sony has placed rootkits on CD’s. That makes them less trustworthy then MS. Not that I fully trust either company.