Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

The article is 100% on the spot. Although HD DVD has been dead, it could have made the transition from DVD to HD media a lot smoother and speedier as the available hardware at the time was significantly cheaper with most of the technical bugs resolved. It failed because of poor support from Hollywood studios, the movie rental industry like BlockBusters, and other hardware manufacturers.

BluRay hardware, despite being supported by numerous manufacturers, are too pricy for the majority of consumers. As far as video and sound quality....? If the display video monitor is 32" or less, DVDs actually look pretty OK for most none critical eyes. Most consumers do not even know what lossless and lossy audio means... How many average consumers actually have HD TV sets 42" or larger as compared to medium sized TVs? And how many consumers actually even have a full surround sound system? And for those that do have the multiple speaker set up, how many are of high resolution quality to even appreciate the lossless multipchannel available on BluRay?

Yes, BluRay has gotten many things right to win the HD media battle with HD DVD: it has gotten the support from Holywood studios; it has gotten the OK from BlockBuster and NetFlix (but selection is still rather abysmal as compared to DVDs), and it has gotten the support from most of the major hardware manufacturers; it is also working the kinks out with the techological bugs. But at the end, it still all comes down to 3 other important variables:
1. Price of hardware and software.
2. Availability and selection of HD rental material.
3. TV sizes of the majority consumers.