Blockbuster goes Blu-ray, HD DVD=beta?,

Not to be negative, but I've sat through a lot of demos of both formats, and have yet to be wowed by any of the content beyond what I've seen done by good DVD-players that upconvert 480p content, or a dedicated scaler component for that matter.

I'm just not sold yet.

There's so much spin coming out of both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps that it's hard to really get a clear picture of what's really happening in the marketplace.

Talking off the record to mass market dealers, neither format has seen significant adoption up to this point. Gross sales have been described as "dissapointing."

Still, it's far from over.

And no matter how much we deride Wal-mart, they have snuck their way up to being #2 in mass-market CE behind Best Buy, and are gunning hard for #1. They've got a lot more savvy than I would prefer to give them credit for.

If you get Planet Earth box set (either HD-DVD or Blu-ray)just remember to catch your jaw before it hits the floor....it is simply stunning!

That's the BBC series you're talking about, Shadorne? I shall seek it out, then.

07-02-07: Blkadr
I went for the Toshiba D2 from Costco. At $249 and 5 free HD DVDs its hard to pass up. HD and upscaling looks very good, plus the free HD DVDs, I can watch the format wars play out in relative comfort.

I will say that price points like that add a new factor to consumer's decision-making: The "why the heck not?" factor. For $249 you can throw caution to the wind and take the format for a ride, as opposed to spending a grand and having a 50% chance of it turning into a doorstop.

Shadorne, you make an excellent point about prestige ownership vs mass-market consuption. The accelerated race to zero for HD-DVD is troubling when you compare it to the more gradual price compression of DVD. By comparison, the decine of the price of CD players was graceful and stately over a ~30 year period.

For sure. In the case of the iPod, the accessory market is critical for retailers because the dealer markup on iPod is <10%. But I digress.

I admit to being startled that Hitachi is launching the first two Blu-ray camcorders this fall. I remember when Sony was the king of the camcorder, and I'm surprised that they weren't first to market with a Blu-ray Handycam.

I think you're right, Johnnyb53. It just strikes me as odd that Sony would not extend themselves to be first to market with a Blu-ray camcorder. You could argue that they're letting Hitachi test the waters of the market, but there's something to be said for the bragging rights that come from debuting an industry "first" and the Sony of old would have gone after that.

I had some bloggery about this, as you can imagine

As it stands, I don't have a clear picture of which way the wind is blowing, but my sense is that the teeter totter is tipping in Blu-ray's favor overall. But who knows?

This saga never seems to end.

Now Paramount has dumped Blu-ray, at least for now.

08-21-07: Rysa4
Pretty major stuff really, in the minor world of Hi Def DVDs.

That's just it, isn't it? I've still got a nagging suspicion that this is a tempest in a tea cup, and this particular format war will end up with NO winners.

I'm writing this from the Denver Airport on my way back from CEDIA Expo. I saw a LOT of Blu-ray and HD-DVD demos in the last week. Much like last year, they alternated between breathtakingly good looking, and "meh."

Just like DVD (or any other format) what was goin on in the mastering process has a profound impact on the final image on screen, no matter how good your player or how fastidiously you've calibrated your display.