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HDTVUK have reported the findings of a US-based survey which suggests that a major factor in consumer negativity about the Blu-ray high definition optical disc format is a distrust of Sony, and annoyance from some gamers that they're forced to adopt Blu-ray if they get a PS3.

Cymfony, a market influence analytics company, discovered that positive discussions about HD DVD were 46% higher than Blu-ray, with over twice as many post authors stating being "impressed with HD DVD" versus "impressed with Blu-ray"

The study was independent, so not sponsored by any company with a direct interest in one of the formats. Some consumer comments that came out of the survey included:

"Sony, on the other hand, has a track record of starting format wars, and losing them too. Beta, mini-disc, umd, and atrac have all been huge flops, but they just don't seem to learn their lesson because they're too greedy." -- phishbook.com

"There are other issues too; the sheer arrogance of Sony is incredible, and puts me off wanting to support them." -- avforums.com

"What if you don't give a damn about watching movies on your game console? What if you prefer to buy a separate HD player? That's the rub. Sony forces you to buy Blu-ray. MS doesn't force you to buy HD-DVD. It's about giving the consumer options. Bargain my arse, as a consumer I prefer options." -- forums.adventuregamers.com

Jim Nail, chief strategy & marketing officer at Cymfony, commented, "While the media and manufacturers duke it out over their format choice, our research shows that consumers are turning away from Blu-ray because of Sony's reputation and heavy-handed launch strategy. Cymfony's unique capabilities for analysis of traditional and consumer generated media provide corporations with an early warning system of whether their marketing or product initiatives are gaining traction in the user community."

Stofsk wrote:So which one is actually better?

Darth Wong wrote:I hate Sony so much that I couldn't even care less how Blu-Ray compares to HD-DVD on a technical level. I want to see it fall just to see Sony bleed.

Ace Pace wrote:

Stofsk wrote:So which one is actually better?

Very much depends on what you are looking at.

Stofsk wrote:So which one is actually better?

atg wrote:As I understand it Blue-ray has a higher capacity, but has much higher production costs.

Meest wrote:Blu-ray is superior is all aspects except cost

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:VHS reigned supreme from 1977 to about 2000, and these idiots think they're going to dethrone DVD after it only overtook VHS about 6 years ago? Please.

Admiral Valdemar wrote:With holographic UV discs being looked at as well,

Admiral Valdemar wrote:And that's assuming solid-state and downloadable media don't takeover from DVD first anyway.

Arrow wrote:The problem both formats face is that the upscalers built into HDTVs, and even AV receivers, do a good enough job of making regular DVDs look highdef. Why spend a grand on a new player and replace your collection when your shiny new HDTV will give you that image quality anyway, for "free"?

Darth Wong wrote:All of that bullshit doesn't really make it look high-def. The problem is that even most high-def movies don't really look high-def. There's just too much film grain and other visual problems on the average movie, which is why the difference between the high-def version of a movie and the DVD version is often rather small.

But as high-def digital video cameras become increasingly common, this should change. You'll see a ton of detail on movies shot using high-def digital technology which shows up on HD but doesn't show up on regular DVD, and those upconverting toys won't do a damned thing to simulate that level of detail. All they do is apply sharpening filters on an upscaled image. Big deal; I can do that to a picture with any image processing software but it doesn't really simulate a picture that had a higher native resolution to begin with. Not even close.

Arrow wrote:Here's where my "good enough" comment comes from, and it has a lot of room for error. I can watch Star Wars Episode III on HBO HD and on DVD. While the HBO HD signal looks a little better, its not mind blowingly better. Since Ep 3 was all digital, its not going to have the film quality problems. The difference isn't enough to make me want to get an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player. Now, that analysis is purely based on what my own eyes show me, and its assuming that HBO is using theater quality source, and that my TV's odd resolution (13-something by 768) isn't screwing up the HD signal.

No argument the technology and detail will be superior (and that upscaling is just faking it). But will that superiority be enough to convince consumers to buy into either technology, just to watch new releases that were filmed with the new equipment? Will the price fall low enough and will a big enough library of material that can take advantage of the players be available before the next big format is out? When I look at it that way, I have to say Arthur, Uranium and Spanky are right: HD-DVD and Blu-ray are doomed to niche markets and failure.