Dan's Media Digest

HD-DVD vs BLU-RAY - Round 1 to HD-DVD?

I know many of you are interested in the battle of the next-gen DVD format: HD-DVD or Sony's Blu-Ray. Well, things aren't looking good for Sony at the moment, particularly now Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, seems to think HD-DVD has proven itself the winner already...

Kornblau: "The reviews are in and HD-DVD is hands down the leader in picture quality, audio experiences and interactive capabilities that have never been seen before. Look at the blogs, look at the reviews by the early adopters, and even look at the mainstream media –- HD-DVD has maintained its first-to-market advantage and delivered on the promises of providing the best high definition image and sound quality at the best value for consumers today."

"Take today’s announcement of new players from Toshiba, new PC hardware from Niveus and new titles like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and add the hardware and movies that are coming this Fall and you can see why HD-DVD is poised for a strong holiday.”

According to North American's HD-DVD Promotion Group, more than 60 of the latest studio titles are now available on HD-DVD, with 150 more expected by the end of 2006.

HD-DVD now has the support of: Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment, HBO, New Line Home Entertainment and The Weinstein Company.

The higher priced Blu-Ray format, which came to market after HD-DVD, received a serious set-back 2 weeks ago when Sony announced the PlayStation 3 games console (equipped with Blu-Ray) has been delayed by 4 months. This is seen by many as a major problem for Sony, who were hoping to penetrate the market very deeply through its games console.

So, HD-DVD is certainly winning (as I predicted, btw!) Well, at the moment. Let's see what happens when both formats are more widely spread and the general consumers get their chance to pick a side...