James Delahunty
21 Apr 2006 23:22
This week, the first HD DVD players from Toshiba Corp. appeared in stores across the United States. While the format did beat the rival Blu-Ray Disc format to release, the selection of HD DVD movies was incredibly poor, resulting in the launch coming and then disappearing quickly. However, it is worth mentioning that all the players are reportedly sold out, but that wouldn't be too hard with just around 10,000 - 15,000 players being available at launch.
The line-up of high definition movies that very early adopters had to choose from consisted of just three titles; The Last Samurai, Phantom of the Opera and Serenity. The titles are selling rather well on Amazon, and the HD discs are also part of Netflix' selection. Now it's on the HD DVD camp to get as many HD DVD movies out as possible before the Blu-ray launch, the ensure holding a lead for at least a while.
The first Blu-ray players will be priced at $1,000+ compared to Toshiba's $499 and $799 players that have sold out. The Blu-ray camp has many advantages over the HD DVD camp however, including more support from Hollywood studios and the upcoming PlayStation 3 launch. The PS3 includes a Blu-ray drive, so a good launch for the PS3 is even better for the Blu-ray format.
The battle between both formats will go on for quite a while before a winner is obvious, resembling the mess caused by the VHS vs. Betamax war. It will be an expensive battle but at stake is the multi-billion dollar home video market.
Source:
Xinhuanet