June 21, 2007 - As reported by Video Business, research firm Digital Entertainment Group has compiled what would appear to be a solid breakdown of the numbers of next-generation DVD players sold in the United States. The research firm concludes that Blu-ray presently holds a 5 to 1 advantage over HD-DVD in installed hardware, primarily on the strength of the PlayStation 3.
According to DEG, 1.5-million Blu-ray players reside in American homes, broken down between 100,000 dedicated players and 1.4-million PlayStation 3s. The HD-DVD install base stands at 300,000 units, apparently evenly split between dedicated players and the HD-DVD add-on drives for the Xbox 360. Such figures are roughly in line with the HD-DVD camp's now slightly dated claim of selling 60% of all dedicated next-gen players. DEG also reported that $55-million has been spent on high-definition movies to date, the majority ($35-million) devoted to Blu-ray.
The figures reveal a not unexpected yet telling picture of the next-gen DVD business. The fact that, roughly a year after each format's launch, neither has sold an impressive number of dedicated hardware units exposes the extremely significant role videogamers are playing in the development of the technologies. PlayStation 3 owners are undoubtedly driving Blu-ray movie sales, and by dint, the entire next-gen DVD industry. What impact this will have on the health of high-definition movies sales remains to be seen, but the situation is undoubtedly unique in that fans of one media (videogames) are defining the future of another (HD-movies).
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Whether or not people believe that Sony made a good decision by putting blu ray into the PS3 (myself one of those decenter), it's clear that Sony did so in order to push their new media format (well duh) and it's clearly working. I suspect that in a couple months, we'll see good blu ray player selling for around $200 and perhaps by Christmas 2007, we'll either see one of the standards drop off the face of the planet or we'll see so much competition that price won't be a factor, but which studios sticks with either format will probably decide the fate of the next dvd format wars.
Great article gft.
In my opinion, Blu-Ray has been marketed so much better, and come on, people are definitely attracted by the name "Blu-Ray"
I've always thought that people were generally crazy to go out and buy 1st gen stuff anyhow, but at the beginning I was firmly a fan of HD-DVD. It was a cheaper format, with less expenisve equipment. Now though, it just seems like it's being run over with a truck, and Blu Ray is taking off.
If the day comes when HD-DVD dies...we'll be sure to have a moment of silence for it, and maybe a couple drinks
All this HD stuff with the cables and 1080P/i w/e other number, etc. is just to confusing for me.
*sticks with DVD until it dies*
^ Same for me
Well...Untill christmas anyways
I'm going to disagree that the ps3 is the primary driving force. Bluray already had a significant lead before the ps3 dropped. It has more to do with marketing and brand name. Most everyone with basic tech knowledge knows what or has heard of blu-ray, yet a lot of people don't know about HD DVD. This is not a gaming system that is the cause. It is an advantage, but for now, it's not a major one.
I get in conversations all the time about the next dvd format, and only a small portion of that time do the people I talk to even realize there are 2 formats competing... sad really. I guess Sony has come out with a good strategy. What HD DVD needs is an electronics manufacturer as big as Sony to exclusively back HD DVD, but that doesn't exist. Sony has the general public believing their products are superior in every way. People need to do research pefore making any major electronics purchases, instead they rely on HS students at BestBuy to guide them towards the most expensive crap.
I agree that Best Buy seems to push people to Blu Ray. I mean there isn't a HD-DVD system set up in either of the 2 stores in my town, but they both have Blu Ray system hooked up to Samsung TVs.
I would say the only real advantage to Blu Ray is disc space. Other then that the two formats can do almost the same thing. I know Blu Ray has a little more security put on their disc, and that's a watermark that HD-DVD doesn't have (so far as I know)
All this HD stuff with the cables and 1080P/i w/e other number, etc. is just to confusing for me.
*sticks with DVD until it dies*
It's a good strategy. To help you a little, if you do not play movies or games on a high def TV, then there is pretty much no reason to buy high def movies (unless you are planning on the future). The benefit on the best standard def tv is so small most will never notice, and on most standard tv's no one will notice a difference.
The numbers are your resolution, which is a fancy term for how good your picture looks. The higher the number, the better the picture (in general) for a specific type of TV.
The i/p stands for how the image is displayed. The only difference you need to know is that progressive scan flashes the full image up at each frame while interlace only gives you half the image. I assume you know TV's work by displaying still images on the screen at a high rate of speed so that it appears that it's in motion. Much like a paper flip book.
Imagine a photograph, with progressive scan you'd see the entire image. With interlace you'd see tiny black lines accross it. Now if that image was taken a fraction of a second later you'd see picture where the black lines were, and black lines would replace where the image was. This is done many times every second, and our eye's are too slow to be able to see the black lines. This is over simplifying things, but it gives a good idea of how the two differ.
As far as the cables, they are just different ways to transfer the data. Some are able to more accurately transfer that data than others because of the material they are made of, the type of connection made, and the amount of data being transferred. This can get extremely complicated, and is better left not understood fully. For the specifics, one can read online.
Generally, here's the order in terms of quality of image:
Lowest
Coaxial (like cable from the wall to TV)
Composite (Red, Yellow, White cables hooking up a DVD player)
S-video (for video only, for example a DVD player cable)
Componant Video (Green Blue Red, Video Only, Must be supported by TV)
DVI (First of the digital connections, better picture for HD tv's/monitors, looks like a serial [printer or computer monitor] cable, digital signal capability -- simply put, easier to transfer the image without messing it up)
HDMI (Best standard connection of what's out there, looks almost like a USB [connects a camera or device to a computer] connection, for HD TV's, digital signal capability)
Highest quality
Now this is being very general and oversimplifying things, but it's a start. Hope it clears some stuff up!
I agree that Best Buy seems to push people to Blu Ray. I mean there isn't a HD-DVD system set up in either of the 2 stores in my town, but they both have Blu Ray system hooked up to Samsung TVs.
I would say the only real advantage to Blu Ray is disc space. Other then that the two formats can do almost the same thing. I know Blu Ray has a little more security put on their disc, and that's a watermark that HD-DVD doesn't have (so far as I know)
From what I have heard, surmised, and researched there are a couple more issues that Blu-Ray has that HD DVD does not:
1. Blu ray is more expensive (it's a completely new technology, so it's going to be higher priced to manufacture. HD DVD is basically a spin on existing technology)
2. (Heard this, so I can't confirm it... not technical enough and haven't done side by side comparisons) HD DVD's compression is superior to Blu Ray, so while Blu Ray may have more computing horsepower, it has a larger governor (which limits video quality).
There are more, but those are my concerns with blu-ray. I am watching the DVD race as closely as I am the games coming out for the systems, as they will have a part in my decision when I purchase one. First I need an HD tv to support the high def, so it's not going to be for some time. 
edit:// Hmm, looks like my memory may be cloudy in doing a quick check.
Scratched #3, they both use blue laser. Wonder where I got the impression HD DVD did not??
Blockbuster went Blu Ray, and a lot of former studios that were concrete HD DVD are beginning to waiver. That kind of sucks, cause Toshiba makes a much better product than Sony in household electronics in general. Sony's standards have gone to hell on consumer electronics while Toshiba's have gotten better over the past 10 years.
both Blu Ray and HD DVD use these Codecs:
MPEG-2
Microsoft Video Codec 1 (aka VC1, WMV HD, etc.)
H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC
I'm not sure if that's what you meant by compression, but I'm guessing it is.
I'm sticking with DVD until its completely dead. Blu-ray players just cost too much to buy.
I'm waiting until there's a clear cut winner, HD-DVD could still win if sales pick up, as they lead 3 to 1 in standalone (The Xbox 360 add on is more than blu-ray, because people that buy it WANT it for movies). Anyway, I couldn't care less who wins, they're both fantastic formats, and I'll either wait for one to die off, or a hybrid player under $500
I have HD-DVD, only because Blu-Ray costs more.
moved back to ps3 as per request
both Blu Ray and HD DVD use these Codecs:
MPEG-2
Microsoft Video Codec 1 (aka VC1, WMV HD, etc.)
H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC
I'm not sure if that's what you meant by compression, but I'm guessing it is.
Maybe I'm thinking of audio. It's been a long time...
blu ray discs are built different then hd dvd. hd dvd actually uses dvd technology, whereas blu ray's disc information is put closer to the surface which makes it more delicate, thus the disc gets a hard coating to protect it from scratches and such. Audio is the same, the only real different is storage size per disc, and blu ray wins with that fight.