It's already known that there are two different next generation optical media, Blu-ray disc and HD-DVD. Both have different features, and each have advantages and disadvantages. Both formats are in competition, and we are still at the start because only recently first devices (both standalone players and burners) and titles are available to the consumer, so until now there is not a real "winner".
But there will there really be a "winner"? A new report from Screen Digest predicts the most likely outcome in the battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, and results are rather interesting:
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2 The Blu-ray Disc format achieves a dominant market position and supporters of the HD DVD format switch their allegiance to that format. 3 Neither format achieves a 'knock-out' position of market dominance and both coexist until combi-format solutions become cost-effective and eventually dominate, mirroring the current market for recordable DVDs 4 Both formats 'lose' in the sense that neither is successful enough to achieve mass consumer adoption, resulting in a situation comparable to that of the battle between 'next generation' audio formats SACD and DVD Audio. |
The last scenario depicted in this report is surely the worst, but it is also the most interesting, because it will be the end-consumers that decide the future of next generation formats. Video quality is certainly important, more special features and funny menus are certainly interesting, but are really good enough reasons to pull the end-users toward the new formats? Many people are still discovering the "old" DVD for the first time, and there are still people that are not able to program a videotape device to record football matches of their preferred team.
Will there really be a winner? Only time will answer this question. More details on this report can be read here .
Source: Screen Digest
