With both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats on the US market, the studios are aiming to help push more HDTV owners into upgrading their home entertainment system with HD DVD and Blu-ray disc players with the help of adding various catalogue titles on the next generation formats. They expect 28 million US households to own a HDTV set by the end of the year and would really like to see these consumers picking up a next generation player to compliment their HDTV set.
Over the next couple of months, the number of titles available on the next generation formats is expected to reach 83 for HD DVD and 57 for Blu-ray. Universal is currently leading with 17 HD DVD titles already in the shops with another 23 set for retail by October 24th. So far, there is no announcement yet been made on the quantity of HD DVD and Blu-ray players being sold, however going by the last report by the NPD Group, HD DVD player sales are ahead of Blu-ray player sales by 33%.
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"Collectively the studios are putting their best foot forward," said David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "It obviously drives interest in the format and gives consumers plenty of reasons to go high-def." Studio 60 An analysis by the DVD Release Report shows a total of 140 next-generation titles are either already in stores or are in the pipeline for release in the next couple of months -- 83 in the HD-DVD format, which launched in April, and 57 on Blu-ray, which debuted two months later. The full article can be read here. |
Unfortunately, like the time of Blu-ray's launch, even if we take player pricing out of the picture, many consumers will be reluctant to buy a next generation player if they fear that they will be buying something that could become obsolete in the near future or worry about some movie titles being never made available in their player's format. Basically, manufacturers will either need to come up with a hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player or all the move studios will need to release all HD titles in both formats. From what I would imagine, the majority of those buying HDTV sets are either buying their set to watch HD broadcasts, are interested in getting a flat panel TV or basically ended up buying a HDTV set when replacing their TV that went on the blink. Of course there are others who are preparing for the future by buying their set now and getting HD equipment at a later stage.
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Source: Game Daily
