Rich Fiscus
14 Aug 2007 9:48
HD DVD and Blu-ray producers will be giving consumers more reason to be upset this Christmas, as "Spider-Man 3" comes out exclusively on Blu-ray and "The Bourne Ultimatim" is available only on HD DVD.
While releasing a movie in only one of the two major hi-def formats is considered a good move for promoting your studio's choice, it brings up the question of what impression it leaves on consumers.
So far consumers, by an large, haven't been forced to make a decision because players were priced outside their means. Many don't even have the HDTV displays required to take advantage of either format's improved picture quality. However, with significantly cheaper hardware expected in time for Christmas, consumers will be under pressure to decide between them this Christmas, and it's possible the lack of key titles from both formats will help them decide to keep their money in their pockets.
Sadly, although there are units available that can playback both formats, it's currently more expensive than buying both an HD DVD and Blu-ray player.
HD DVD, developed by Toshiba and backed by powerful companies like Microsoft, has the lead in standalone players sold because they are cheaper and hit the market first. In the United States, standalone HD DVD players have 61 percent market share, while Blu-ray players have 36 percent share and the few dual-format players have a 3 percent share, according to market research company The NPD Group.
However, Blu-ray, backed by Sony and a majority of Hollywood studios, got a big boost when Sony introduced its PlayStation 3 Latest News about PlayStation 3 game console, which comes standard with a Blu-ray drive. Counting those machines, there are more Blu-ray players out there. Although Microsoft's Xbox 360 Latest News about Xbox 360 can play HD DVD movies, the drive has to be bought separately. Only 160,000 drives have been sold so far, compared with 1.5 million PS3 consoles.
In terms of discs sold, Blu-ray has always had the lead. Time Warner's Warner Bros. and Viacom's Paramount Pictures release movies in both formats, and in such cases Blu-ray has outsold HD DVD by nearly 2-to-1. Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Co., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are releasing only in Blu-ray. Universal is the only major studio to back HD DVD exclusively.
Proponents of both formats are hoping to be able to finish off the other in the upcoming holiday season, but it seems that if either truly wins, it will be at the expense of consumers.
Source: TechNewsWorld