Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 04 December 2007 16:52
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
As the prices of Blu-ray and HD DVD players keep dropping, along with
high-def flat panel TVs, consumers buying a next-gen player are having
to make a choice, not knowing which format will ultimately win, buoyed
only perhaps by the fact their new player should also upscale regular
DVDs. Will 2008 be the year the high-def madness ends?
In one corner, Toshiba offers the HD DVD players at prices starting at US $250, while Sony on the other side offers Blu-ray playback from US $399, thanks to the PS3, alongside similarly priced standalone Blu-ray models.
Both sides offer video and audio quality that, for most consumers on today’s mid-range high-def TVs, will be more or less indistinguishable, leading consumers to wonder which movies are available on each high-def format and if the new player will upscale regular DVDs nicely, too.
A report from the
Ecommerce Times says that consumers are often upsold to a ‘next generation DVD player’ based on the fact it is one of the two next-gen models that does indeed upscale DVDs to look nicer on HDTVs.
Some of these consumers reportedly don’t even know if their player is Blu-ray or HD DVD, but are certain that it is ‘next generation’.
This shows just how bad the situation is on the street, and how confused consumers truly are about the two competing formats.
Players of both formats will surely fall in price in 2008, recorders of both formats will enter the mainstream market outside of Japan as well, while combo players will fall in price too, actually giving users hope that they can purchase one machine at a good price and then forget about the format war, buying whichever movie takes their fancy.
Although the Blu-ray camp suffered the loss of the Paramount and DreamWorks studios earlier this year to the HD DVD camp, Blu-ray’s biggest advantage is the millions of PS3’s sold into the marketplace, vastly outnumbering HD DVD players and offering a range of other gaming, computing and digital media capabilities if consumers choose to use them.
HD DVD’s biggest advantage for now is a cheaper price, with most players from both sides able to upscale existing DVD movies.
So, shouldn't a purchase be delayed at least until 2008? Please read onto page 2...
