I get the feeling a lot of consumers still don't care about the competing disc-based hi-def variants out there, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Neither has taken the market by storm, and while prices are dropping on players for both sides, software continues to street and hold at price points well above standard-def DVD releases (this is to say nothing of the fact that many consumers still haven't made the leap to hi-def displays, all but rendering both formats moot).
Having myself gone Blu-Ray by way of the PS3, the news that Starz Home Entertainment (formerly - and forever to me, anyway - Anchor Bay) will begin releasing titles on the format this fall is a real boon. Although their first offerings will be from the hit-or-miss Masters of Horror series, the promise of more content from their eclectic catalog is a sweet one, and could stand to rope a considerable number of converts to the Blu-Ray format.
Since their announcement doesn't rule out the possibility of supplying HD-DVD titles as well, there's no reason to take this as a sign the tide could be turning in one format's favor. Combination drives are on the horizon, and when those hit stand-alone combo players won't be far behind. Surely one format will eventually trump the other; in the meantime it's likely both will suffer for the schism, especially if suppliers like Anchor Bay do lock themselves in exclusively to one or the other.
With Microsoft saying that they would prefer that no physical media to win the ‘HD war', it pretty much signalled the end of HD-DVD. Other than Toshiba, Microsoft was the major player, and when they don't even have faith in something that they've invested in....
(The conspiracy theory is that the only reason why Microsoft backed HD-DVD was to create the HD war, and to move the market towards downloadable media. They also planned to discredit the Jedi order, as well.)
Hehe. Yeah, I suspect video-on-demand services will ultimately win whatever battle's on the horizon.
Micro$oft - gotta love ‘em.
hmmm... i know what you mean, swarez. the first thing lots of people said about d/l's is that it's unstable. formats come and go too. i've seen pictures online of people proudly displaying (and lying alongside) their huge betamax collections - similarly displayed on shelves as per obligatory DVD forum threads - and it should be the ultimate reminder that these things pass...
i'm also inclined to think d/l's are heavily connected to the idea of controlling borders, much more so than DVD managed to be, much more so than HD formats might be, but i suspect they'll also suffer from either confusion from too many choices or monopoly through too few surviving suppliers. personally, i'm not a collector as much by choice as i am by default - i have what could be termed a collection of films, but which i prefer the more accurate description of it simply being a way in which i access films.
here's hoping that HD or d/l actually opens borders up though...
The truly excessive, anti-consumer DRM protections of both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have been at least partially defeated. Blu-Ray rips are in circulation in the usual places. If it's possible to rip a disc, it's possible to have a software player that ignores silly things like forced downscaling on non-HDMI connections and region coding. Settop players aren't quite so simple, but I'm counting on ten thousand Chinese manufacturers flooding the market with inexpensive, easily hackable players. It's only a matter of time. HD Anchor Bay is quite promising. FANTASTIC PLANET, please.
I also think that Microsoft is overestimating the popularity of the new format. Right now no HD title has reached 1 million units in sales. People are happy with their DVDs as they are and are in no hurry to go next gen. I mean they are still releasing titles in fullscreen and that means there are apparently enough consumers out there to release two versions of one film. Those people don't give a rat's ass about HD and widescreen so I don't think SD DVDs are going away any time soon.
-----