James Delahunty
13 Nov 2007 9:51
The European HD DVD Promotional Group is the latest of either side in the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray disc to put out a press release highlighting its strengths over its rival. The group offered up figures from independent research group GfK which analyzed the number of movies purchased by owners of HD players (including games console hardware) in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Benelux countries.
The research showed that owners of HD DVD players have bought an average of 3.8 movies each, compared to a figure of 0.6 for Blu-ray. In Spain, the overall attach rate is highest, with owners of HD DVD hardware paying out for 5.7 movies, 14 times higher than the 0.4 figure for Blu-ray.
Specifically, in Italy the HD DVD attach rate is 4.4 and Blu-ray is 0.4. In France, HD DVD stands with a rate of 5 while Blu-ray stands with a rate of 0.6. In Benelux, Blu-ray has an attach rate of 0.4, compared to 2.9 for HD DVD. The Germans also have an attach rate of 2.9 for HD DVD while Blu-ray sits at 0.6 there and finally, in the UK, HD DVD owners have bought an average of 3.7 movies each, compared to 0.8 for Blu-ray.
"HD DVD not only offers all the picture and audio benefits of other HD formats, it also has the most affordable and feature-rich players on the market today. Unlike other HD formats, every player produced gives the consumer the same consistent HD performance and experience", said Alan Bell, chief technology officer, Paramount Pictures.
However, the figures should be taken with a pinch of salt as the they "include" gaming hardware, which is more often left out of HD DVD press releases. The PlayStation 3 (PS3), while equipped with a Blu-ray player, is most likely bought, at least at this stage, more for gaming than entertainment so counting it now in the figures guarantees a low attach rate for Blu-ray. It does not work both ways either because the gaming hardware for HD DVD is an external add-on drive for the Xbox 360 which has no other use than playing HD DVD movies, and therefore is bought for that purpose by the consumer.
Source:
Pocket-Lint.co.uk