July 10, 2006

Blu-ray and HD-DVD - The Battle Begins!

We've already talked about how much confusion the new Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats are causing. Now we're starting to see various opinions on whether you should upgrade or not. According to JSOnline.com:

Phillip Swann, a TV technology analyst who runs tvpredictions.com, says betting on one or the other this early could be a waste of money.
"Look, you've got a situation where the industry has said, 'We've got two formats.' They've even hinted that both of 'em can't survive, one will survive. So if you pick the wrong one, you'll have an obsolete machine and obsolete movie titles.

"So why on earth would anybody do that?" Swann said. "There's no reason, unless you've got money to burn, you just go out and buy new devices regardless of whether you'll use them a year from now or two years from now, and you just do it because you like to be the kid on the block with the new toy."

He says the viability of one system over the other may not be apparent until next year.

I can't say I really disagree with his opinion but as always, it's not the technology that will decide if people jump on these new formats, but price. Consumers are a lot more willing to take a risk on a new format if it doesn't break the bank. So I'm guessing we'll see very little buzz on Blu-ray and HD-DVD until we see the prices of the players go down by about 2/3rds.

At JSOnline.com

Compare Prices: HD DVD

Compare Prices: Blu-ray