The effort to get customers to accept a next generation DVD format with greater resolution has been stalled by a format dispute between the Blu-Ray format and the HD DVD format, reimiscent of the VHS v. Beta dispute in the early days of VCRs.
It appears tht Blu-Ray is on the verge of winning. The abandoned HD DVD format would go the way to the Betamax, the digital video disk, and the 8 track.
Most people agree that Blu-ray, at 25 GB per layer, is technically superior to HD DVD, at only 15 GB (about triple that of DVD). Frankly, though, I'm not impressed with either format. For an incremental improvement over DVD, Blu-ray players and discs cost a lot more, and are encumbered with more digital restrictions, to say nothing of the bevy of patents behind the scenes. (I wish the concept of inevitable discovery had some bearing on the novelty of inventions.)
ReplyDeleteEven if Blu-ray has beaten HD DVD, it remains to be seen whether it has won the format war. As long as I can buy DVDs for $4 - $10, I'm not going to bother buying a $400 Blu-ray player so I can play $30 BDs on the $2,000 TV I haven't bought either. Meanwhile, Apple is building an online distribution channel with iTunes and the Apple TV, and Amazon is trying to do the same with TiVo.
True. I've used both iTrunes and Amazon to download video, as well as DVD, but I have yet to buy a Blu-Ray or an HD TV.
ReplyDelete"Good Enough" is good enough for most people.
ReplyDeleteWhen Blu-ray discs are cheaper than DVD disc, then everyone will switch.