This year’s CES held in Las Vegas has proven to be very interesting. The new high definition format war has only spiced up the action. This year, we had the opportunity to hear from each side, HD DVD and Blu-ray, at their respective press conferences. Both conferences gave us the latest developments of the HD format war. The HD DVD and Blu-ray camps each claimed the superiority of their products, while also viciously picking out each other's flaws.

The current confused situation of the market has forced consumer to be very careful when making the choice between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Paired with high pricing of high definition players, a direct consequence is slower acceptance of the new technologies.

Despite this, as the press conferences held this year at CES prove, the new formats are slowly gaining some footing in the relatively new market. In this article we plan to recap the various announcements regarding these new formats that took place at CES.

Throughout the press conference, the HD DVD group repeatedly emphasized its satisfaction with the results it has so far received in the North American market. It is no secret that HD DVD currently holds a price advantage over Blu-ray. The cheaper price tag of HD DVD players compared to Blu-ray devices has allowed HD DVD to gain the confidence of consumers who have a budget to keep in mind.

According to the HD DVD group, they have currently sold 125,000 HD DVD players. The figure includes all HD-DVD players, meaning that it counts all standalone players, Xbox 360 add-on units, and Intel Core 2 Duo HD DVD-enabled laptops. The numbers, though, don’t completely speak for themselves. So far, HD DVD has enjoyed a high attach rate of 28 movies per player. The HD DVD group was quite optimistic of the future of its format, planning to expand the HD DVD user base to 2.5 million by the end of 2007.

There were a total of 300 HD DVD titles in 2006, and many more have been promised for 2007. Another feature that will greatly spur the commercial effect of HD DVD is hybrid support. Hybrid discs will have support for DVD on one side and support for HD DVD on the other. This method, however, conflicts with Warner Brother’s hybrid method, which we will discuss more further on into this article.

The most important announcement from the HD DVD camp was that of a triple-layer HD DVD disc. The HD DVD group was able to increase the density of each layer from 15 GB to 17 GB, increasing the total maximum capacity of HD DVD discs from 30 GB to 51 GB. Up until now, the Blu-ray Disc Association has used the smaller capacity of HD DVD to its advantage, claiming superiority of its product because of its larger capacity. This new announcement places HD DVD discs ahead in capacity by 1 GB, a sure blow to the BDA which probably didn’t receive this news with much enthusiasm.

The above photograph shows the confidence that the BDA is placing in its high definition optical disc format. The statement proves that Sony and Co. belief that HD DVD’s efforts are futile and that the format is doomed to fail in the end. Even though the high definition format war has just begun, the Blu-ray Consortium cut straight to the chase during its press conference and decided to declare that they had already won the war. The statement was met with astonishment, mingled with some amusement, from the crowd.

So what did the Blu-ray Disc Association base their claim that it had already won on? The answer is simple: the PS3. The console, which was released by Sony around two months ago, has sold nearly 1 million units. Each of these consoles are counted as Blu-ray players, so the one million PS3 units sold easily dwarfs HD DVD’s much more modest 125,000 players. HD DVD, however, already had a plausible rebuttal prepared. Their rebuttal directly targeted consumer intentions. The HD DVD group believes that consumers are buying their products solely for the purpose of playing high definition movies. On the other hand, PS3 units are not being bought with the sole intent of playing Blu-ray movies, but instead for playing video games.

Sony currently has seven major studios exclusively supporting the Blu-ray disc format. HD DVD has three, two of which also support Blu-ray, meaning only Universal Studios exclusively supports HD DVD. Currently, however, Blu-ray only has 170 movie titles compared to the 300 for HD DVD.

The diagram, which was presented by Sony, shows that Blu-ray will be neck to neck with HD DVD until 2010. From there Sony claims they will gain complete supremacy of the market. The graph only makes it all the more clearer that Sony is singing about their “victory” a little too early.

Some consumers might have a hard time choosing between a Blu-ray player and a HD DVD player. Luckily for them, there is another way to have support for both in one package.LG previously announced the first multi-standard player, which supports both HD DVD and Blu-ray. It comes at a price though, and not a cheap one: $1,199 to $1, 299. Although the price may seem a tad bit high, it is actually in the price range of many standalone Blu-ray players. The LG multi-standard player will be able to play high definition videos in full HD 1080p. The model will also be able to play current DVDs.

Although cheers erupted over the announcement of this product by LG, the party train might actually have been derailed at the hands of the HD DVD Group. Although the hybrid player is Blu-ray certified, it doesn’t have HD DVD certification because it currently has no support for iHD, or Interactive High Definition. iHD provides interactive features such as interactive menus along with other special features including bookmarks and downloads/updates. LG will not be able to legally sell its product as an HD DVD player unless they receive certification from the DVD Forum. A representative of the HD DVD group has even suggested that legal action might be taken against the company for placing the HD DVD logo on their product.

Warner Brothers has also come up with a possible solution that gives consumers the best of both worlds. Their method is in the form of a disc called “Total Hi Def” discs. These discs will play HD DVD format videos on one side and Blu-ray on the other. The solution seems to be the most plausible at the moment, considering that it will have great appeal for movie rental companies as well as consumers. Although Warner Brothers will not be charging any money for the use of its method, the cost will be slightly higher because of the licensing fees for both HD DVD and Blu-ray.

IAfter speaking a lot about high definition videos, we decided to see the current pricing of HD media. The store nearest to our hotel in Vegas was a Best Buy, so we decided to stop by and have a look at their HD selection of movies. It turns out that there was quite a varied amount of films available. HD DVD format videos were in the price range of 24.00 to 25.99 while Blu-ray discs were available for $29.99.

The chain of announcements at CES from both camps only show that the High Definition format war has only begun. Sorry Sony, but really, it is just too early for either side to begin claiming victory just yet. As of right now, it is still very much undecided.

Fox and Disney, two very influential studios, currently exclusively support Blu-ray. Their executives have made it clear on various occasions that they will only be camping on Blu-ray’s side, dealing a blow to HD DVD.

HD DVD, on the other hand, is being largely backed by the one and only Microsoft. There really is no need to go more in-depth regarding the influence Microsoft has in the IT world. Despite Microsoft’s influence, HD DVD will still be facing stiff competition. Blu-ray currently has Apple, Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic all feverously backing it. Microsoft however will not be the only major company to back HD DVD. So far, it also has the support of Toshiba, HP, and Intel. Again, the war is still far from over.

LG Electronics definitely has a lot of potential with their multi-standard player. We’ll still have to wait and see, though, whether they are ever able to actually launch the product. Even if they are able to, however, the price is still pretty high, but then again, it’s not insanely ridiculous considering it is still in the price range of many Blu-ray players. At the moment, WB’s method which walks the line between both formats seems to be the most attractive one as it will greatly benefit both retailers and consumers alike.