Both high-definition formats are designed to offer better quality than traditional DVDs, but which one to support is a decision faced by both consumers and producers. Among the movie studios, Blu-ray appears to be in the lead, as it has gained the support of every major studio except Universal Pictures, which has committed to HD DVD exclusively. After tests that found consumers with a choice rented Blu-ray discs more than 70 percent of the time, Blockbuster announced in June that it would be supporting the Blu-ray format in all its stores.
Toshiba lowered its sales target last month for high-definition DVD players and recorders because of disappointing sales figures in the United States. The choice between Blu-ray and HD DVD is reminiscent of the one consumers faced years ago between VHS and Betamax, but so far, few consumers have committed to either format. Only about 105,000 homes have purchased Blu-ray players to date, compared with about 150,000 homes that have chosen HD DVD players, Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, told TechNewsWorld.
also supports Blu-ray, and there are about 2 million of those in consumers' hands, Adams added. However, few consumers use those devices to play movies, he said. High definition will ultimately take over the market, Adams noted, but it will take some time.
"Between the two formats, we're expecting that half of U.S. homes will have a high-definition player by 2012," he said, including game devices such as the PS3.
For the movie studios, "there is not a great deal of urgency," Adams added, since titles released in high-definition format currently bring in a fraction of what the traditional DVD versions earn. "We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars so far, or maybe a million for a big title, compared with a hundred million on traditional DVD," he said. Nevertheless, "this is an inevitable evolution," Adams concluded.
Next Article in Data Storage: Avoiding a Photog's Worst Nightmare With Polaroid's Media Backup Both high-definition formats are designed to offer better quality than traditional DVDs, but which one to support is a decision faced by both consumers and producers.
News RSS