Sony and Toshiba can sling mud at each other all they want. The real format war isn't HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray - it's both next-generation disc formats vs. DVD. The reality of the whole thing is that:
1) Most Americans have no idea what HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are, or how they compare to DVD 2) Most Americans STILL don't have an HDTV, so buying HD disc players now would have absolutely no use to them 3) Regardless of how many titles each camp releases, the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray section of your local Best Buy or Circuit City is about 1/100 the size of the DVD section 4) The price point of new release DVDs continues to be about half that of the HD version (and every new release on HD disc is also available on DVD) 5) Many people (like my 60-something parents and all their friends) have a hard time telling the difference between 1080p on a disc and a widescreen DVD upconverted to 1080p, as long as the transfers are both very good, and even I have a hard time telling the difference between DTS ES and the new lossless audio formats (and I used to sell this stuff)
The way I see it, the main task of both of these new formats' backers has been to prove to the public why they should adopt HD disc instead of just sticking with DVD, and so far, they've both been failing. Try this experiment to see what I mean - go to a big-box store and watch someone buy a new HDTV. If they buy an upconverting DVD player with their set, or if they don't buy a disc player at all, then that means that no one has won the real format war yet. And until then, Sony should keep their trap shut.
Oh, BTW, anyone remember the SACD vs. DVD-Audio format war? I rest my case...
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Sony and Toshiba can sling mud at each other all they want. The real format war isn't HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray - it's both next-generation disc formats vs. DVD. The reality of the whole thing is that:
1) Most Americans have no idea what HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are, or how they compare to DVD
2) Most Americans STILL don't have an HDTV, so buying HD disc players now would have absolutely no use to them
3) Regardless of how many titles each camp releases, the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray section of your local Best Buy or Circuit City is about 1/100 the size of the DVD section
4) The price point of new release DVDs continues to be about half that of the HD version (and every new release on HD disc is also available on DVD)
5) Many people (like my 60-something parents and all their friends) have a hard time telling the difference between 1080p on a disc and a widescreen DVD upconverted to 1080p, as long as the transfers are both very good, and even I have a hard time telling the difference between DTS ES and the new lossless audio formats (and I used to sell this stuff)
The way I see it, the main task of both of these new formats' backers has been to prove to the public why they should adopt HD disc instead of just sticking with DVD, and so far, they've both been failing. Try this experiment to see what I mean - go to a big-box store and watch someone buy a new HDTV. If they buy an upconverting DVD player with their set, or if they don't buy a disc player at all, then that means that no one has won the real format war yet. And until then, Sony should keep their trap shut.
Oh, BTW, anyone remember the SACD vs. DVD-Audio format war? I rest my case...