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Buying Guide: The Blu-ray HD DVD Stalemate
Contents
- The Blu-ray HD DVD Stalemate
- The Differences
A year and a half ago I declared Blu-ray a doomed technology. It's still around. Of course, so is HD DVD. The war of wills between Sony (Blu-ray) and Toshiba (HD DVD) has, if anything, deepened. And much to my chagrin, both formats are gaining traction in the marketplace.
This high-def battle will end badly.
Each format has a host of media companies backing it, and read-only and burnable Blu-ray or HD DVD drives are now appearing in notebooks and desktops. The players have also improved, becoming thinner, faster, and cheaper. Amazingly, a couple of companies (Samsung and LG) have rolled out dual-format players, which, to my mind, only feeds the dysfunction. Major retailers, such as Wal-Mart, however, have chosen sides, throwing their support and marketing behind one format or the other.
In the meantime, Toshiba and its HD DVD partners, and Sony and its Blu-ray partners, continue battling it out in public and not talking in private. I guess they're not interested in solving this mess.
In the meantime, I do not see consumers flocking to either format—media or player—this holiday season. Players that handle both HD media, as well as traditional DVDs, may help consumers make a choice. People are likely to buy a high-def player when their old DVD player burns out (set-top DVD players seem to have a life span of about five years). Imagine the anxiety consumers would experience if they had to make that format choice today. If they've recently bought a PC with a built-in HD player, they may match that format when choosing a set-top player. For example, if they've got a Dell PC with a Blu-ray player, they may opt for a Sony Blu-ray set-top. If this will be people's holiday shopping rationale, the winner of the HD format war could be the company that makes the most PC deals and sells the most HD-equipped systems.
I honestly don't know who will persevere, since I never expected the war to last this long. Some could argue that a multiformat world could continue indefinitely, with no ill effects for consumers, the companies that make these players, or the media companies that burn their movies to different format optical discs. Look at operating systems. In the early days, we had Windows, Macintosh, and OS/2 systems. The latter, IBM's once-beloved and powerful OS, always trailed in popularity and adoption, and eventually it died. These days, most people choose between Windows and Mac (Linux's OS share is minute). Essentially, both OSs let you do the same things, but there are vast differences in both form and function between the platforms. Each offers its own different—and very real—benefits. The Mac is for people who want the utmost simplicity, a closed ecosystem, and almost zero virus, Trojan, and spyware risk. Windows is more powerful, full-featured, and customizable, with far more app support and a richer gaming experience. With the Mac, you get consistency and elegance of design. The same cannot always be said of PCs.—next: The Differences >