Thanks for the incisive comments and sales graphs.

also they’re available on blockbuster online. you have to click on categories and then click on hd dvd. it’s not a one click access like blu-ray.

Additionally, Blu-ray may have taken a commanding lead in the next-generation format war, but the group has a big problem looming: early supporters of the format are left out in the cold when the Blu-ray Disc Association introduces BD Profile 2.0.
Unlike HD DVD, which mandated features such as local storage, a second video and audio decoder for picture-in-picture, and a network connection from the very beginning, the companies behind Blu-ray took a different approach. Initial hardware players lacked these capabilities in order to keep costs down.
None of the Profile 1.0 players can be upgraded to Profile 1.1, which was finalized recently, with the exception of the PlayStation 3 — whose update arrived in mid-December. Likewise, Profile 2.0 is expected to arrive in October bringing Internet connectivity that Profile 1.1 players lack.
Ref. Link:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Bluray_Early_adopters_knew_what_they_were_getting_into/1199841379

The owners of Play Station 3 would not have had as bigger lost as the standalone HD DVD player owners. After all, it is mainly a game machine and the game software for it is not being dropped.

Then, the cheaper HD DVD stand-alone players would have really got HD player sales moving with real consumer acceptance of it for a replacement of standard DVD players.

Smart move Sony in my opinion.

I think the war will be over when the Blu-Ray group and the HD-DVD group cross-license the technology and every player inexpensively becomes a hybrid player. I really don’t care if the movie I buy is Blue or Red. I only care if the movie plays in my player.

I think Sony made a huge mistake with their Blu-Ray profile compliance. Profile 1.0 vs. 1.1 vs. 2.0 is a huge gap in features; many older players will not be compatible with the profile, meaning that they will miss some of the bonus material and would have to purchase a new player to correct this. At least the HD-DVD camp enforced compliance with the max feature set from the beginning.

For me, I’m waiting until there is a clear path to the future. In the meantime, I’m renting DVDs and I purchased only 1 DVD in 20007 (I would typically purchase 20.) If other consumers have similar habits, the format war is generating less revenue for the movie studios instead of more.

I also wouldn’t underestimate the variable of which format will be the first to have and affordable DVD-Burner with equally affordable media.

Another thing, I never bought into that whole price comparison. When I got my PS3 last Christmas, it had a 60 GB drive (40 GB bigger than my Xbox), plus wireless which costs an additional $100 to add to the Xbox. People tend to forget/ignore that you got a lot for the $599 that the PS3 originally cost, including a very good Blu-ray player. I would imagine that most people who have invested in the next-gen gaming consoles have a high-def TV and it seems somewhat natural to think they wouldn’t mind making the jump to high-def movies. As a gamer and movie fan, I would much rather pay a little more to have it included in one unit than have to buy an add-on or even a standalone (like I ended up doing for HD-DVD). Of course, if you’re not interested in the technology, you certainly aren’t forced to buy anything or pay for anything.

Ditto on the whole ‘Sony and proprietary formats’ comment. Sony having a dominant technology won’t be good for the consumer. I know that Blu-Ray has a lot going for it, but I have faith that Sony will screw it up like they always do (e.g. Betamax, UMD, DAT, etc.)

The comment about Sony having a better codec seems like a bit of FUD: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray both support AVC and VC-1 (so sayeth Wikipedia).

As far as quality, there is no clear winner…they’re both about the same. I also don’t see the downloading coming into play for some years to come. I’ve downloaded HD movies from Xbox Live and I seriously don’t think that’s a comfortable everyday solution for people at this point.

Yeah I’d be surprised if HD-DVD overcomes Blu-Ray.

On Planet Earth, have you been able to play it at 1080p? Very interested in this as the version that the BBC is selling in Ireland & UK only supports a max of 1080i, while I believe the USA version supports up to 1080p.

Is there any word on region encoding, wikipedia details that there is three regions (A1, B2, C3) for Blu-Ray but is it being implemented, or is there cracks for region free players yet, as with DVD players.

Hope you have a Happy New Year.

I just hope for the sake of everyone (and the numerous questions I will have to answer in the future) that the market will agree on a format and make the other obsolete like the VHS vs. Beta war. I don’t really want to be buying a bunch of HD DVD/Blu-ray combo players, writers, etc. The -+R stuff is to annoying as is.

If you don’t mind me asking, which Blu-Ray DVD player did you purchase? I’m looking to get one as well and I’m sure you have already done plenty of research.

Thanks.

Blockbuster having Blu-Ray doesn’t matter to me one way or the other; they’ve closed down most of their stores in my area and I rent exclusively through Netflix now.

I have an HD-DVD player and have purchased some HD-DVD movies, but like many others I won’t make a huge collection until I know who the clear winner is. I have a sneaking suspicion that once one format “wins,” all it will mean is that movies are only produced in that format from then on. I feel like it would be trivial to add both formats to a single player in the future, so that all of the discs that were made in the “loser” format aren’t a waste.

Reason being:

Flash Player 9 Update that includes HD video. That means HD Youtube and it means HD video hosting, with player.

What I see happening is your (Paul) idea coming in a different light. I see an S3 like host with the flash player being a personal media dump. And I see the Touch and iPhone being the key players here. Well, any wifi video device. Stream in any hotspot anywhere, really. And if Google wins the bid for 700Mhz, maybe we’ll see wifi ANYWHERE. It’s headed there anyway.

So, combine that with ITMS and you have an easy solution. You can rent, buy and otherwise view videos. Once you own it, you can upload it and access it any time OR put it on your device.

Want to play it on a huge ginormous TV? Well, just a simple TV out perhaps. And that will kickstart the TV out biz. I mean an iPod/iPhone with HD out? Is it really that far fetched?

So that’s my thoughts on where we’re headed.

(If I had to pick, I’d go with what I’ve said from the beginning: BluRay)