As the Blu-ray, HD DVD Format War Drags On, We Lose
Posted by junger | April 30th, 2007
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I really want to watch high-def movies. Really, really want to own them.
I want high-def movies so badly I'm willing to watch Escape From New York on demand to get my fix for HD.
But there's no way I'm investing in either a Blu-ray or HD DVD player and potentially throwing my money away. It just isn't worth it.
Last week, I covered the rumors and reports swirling the Internet about Wal-Mart's HD DVD plans, Blu-ray sales numbers, and the general state of the format war.
For the past few weeks, reports have been flying around the Internet claiming that the format war is nearly over, thanks to new sales figures, dual-format players, and the involvement of the biggest of the big-box retailers. …
Despite all of the news, reports and sales figures, there has been nothing that has significantly changed adoption of either format. It doesn't seem that we're any closer to concluding this battle.
I own more DVDs than I need. I'd been lining up outside of Best Buy to get more in an HD format if I knew for sure that they'd be worth more than those old AOL discs they used to give away.
So who loses? Blu-ray loses. HD DVD loses.
But most of all, you and I lose. The folks with the disposable income and the desire to spend it on the gadgets we want. We've got nothing but a bad taste in our mouth.
Here is a brilliant idea, why not publish all films on both formats and let the consumers decide which one they want. Is it really all that expensive for a studio to put a digital file on one disc vs. two? This silly little war is about proprietary standards that punish consumers instead of letting us decide. As long as the studios refuse to cross license their films, I'm going to continue to ignore both blu-ray and HD-DVD.
Interesting idea, Davis - although somehow I don't think Sony will agree to it, just like they won't ever adopt Warner's Total HD disc.
Like with the SACD/DVD-A battle, I wonder if the ongoing lack of a standard will accelerate the feasibility of HD downloads. We'll be there in the next 10 years guaranteed, but if there's no viable HD media option, it might come sooner than we think.
It'll end the same way the CD-R/CD+R format battle did, with a single player supporting both formats. Until then, why not just get an PS3 or XBOX360+HDDVD? They're roughly the same price as the standalone HD players anyway.
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