The boasting and trash talking was coming fast and furious at the this week's CeBIT show, where HD DVD announced the start of the European HD DVD Promotional Group.
"HD DVD is the most recognized brand name worldwide for high definition packaged media," said Ken Graffeo, Universal Studios' Executive VP of HD Strategic Marketing adding that they have a strong group of supporters who will strive to make HD DVD the formate of choice in Europe.
Not to be outdone, Frank Simonis, the European chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association told Reuters that in three years it will be Blu-ray and only Blu-ray.
As the article points out, and as most knowledgeable consumers know, it took quite a while for DVD to unseat VHS as the medium of choice for home movies. Competing products need to drop below the magic mark of $100 for most customers to start serious buying and HD in any flavor is a long way from there. Even though Blu-ray is catching up, I can't see either model dropping nearly enough to be able to push the other out entirely. This will be especially true in the US where most consumers will be faced with the near term decision of having to purchase replacement television sets if analog broadcasts leave the air as scheduled. The cost and time involved with that could easily delay any interest in an entirely new DVD format, especially when there is still no clear leader. Add to that, the fact that the real advantage of HD does not become readily apparent until screens get beyond 32", and I see the battle for either choice lasting for quite some time.
Source:Australian IT
