I'm not saying I think Fox was forced to do anything, but I can't fathom that the two announcements being made on the same day -- especially considering Fox's refusal to say anything for months on end up to that point -- could possibly be coincidence.

With the way their press release kept citing statistics and continually reaffirmed their support for Blu-ray instead of just saying "here are our new titles!", I don't know how it could be taken as anything but a passive-aggressive response to Paramount's defection.

Don't get me wrong -- I don't care that Fox was responding to Paramount in this way, and I'm glad to see that they are planning on releasing titles (their tendency to cancel titles left and right, tack on bloated MSRPs, and strip away extras notwithstanding), regardless of whether or not Paramount's announcement prompted Fox to issue a press release earlier than they may have otherwise.

Exactly. The mentions of why Fox continues to support Blu Ray were spin, pure and simple.

To me it seems to be a case of quality (HD-DVD) over quantity (BD). There are ton more BD movies out there, but the majority of them I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

I just took the plunge this week. I had ordered a PS3 last week and waiting for it to arrive when Paramount made their announcement. So I went ahead and got the 360 HD-Drive as well. :lol:

The numbers are pretty close, really. That parity is owed largely to Universal's aggressive release slate, and they're releasing their fair share of dreck. There's a lot of good and bad on both formats.

Both formats have about equal amount of titles. One week Blu is in the lead, the next HD DVD. With Paramount pulling out, Blu-Ray just lost 32 titles, so in reality, HD DVD is now in the lead. Regardless, the amount of titles don't really matter, its what you would rather watch if you are just buying one format.

I hope you realize that Blade Runner and the Kubrick films are from WB which means they will be released on both formats.

Call me silly, but I just want a high-quality $250 independent audio channel output HD DVD player.

Yes, I do realize that.

My point was, it's those titles which are causing me to re-examine my SD DVD luddite stance.

That I'm leaning one way over the other, has more to do with the overall catalogs available on each format. I should have been clearer initially.

I've been collecting DVD's since Blade first came out. That's right, I bought a DVD player at that time that was $400, so paying bills and rent is not an issue to me, but thanks for your financial advice.

I'm really tight with my money and I carefully analyze what I buy. To me, it's a waste if I bought a player and the format goes down within 1 year. It's the uncertainty that's holding me back from buying a player. I'd rather save that $180 and put it on a format player that I know will win the war.

What made you think DVDs were going to catch on? There was no certainty that your Blade DVD would still be viable today.

I think its safe to assume neither format will be gone within a year.

I agree. I think the release and exclusivity landscape will probably be different, but both formats will be supported with new releases weekly.

Compared to vhs:

better picture quality
better sound
no more rewinding
extra features

I determined that those factors were enough for the format to be successful. Have I been wrong before? Of course, I thought Dreamcast was going to be a success and it turned out to be Sega's last system.

Now you can say that the 4 listed can make a case for HD/Blu Ray. But to me, the jump isn't that big from vhs to DVD. We get lossless sound with hd but is that as big of a jump as vhs having stereo to dvd's having 5.1? To me it's not. Same can be said for the rest on the list, sans rewinding.

Add to the fact that the studios are divided and that adds more to uncertainty. You can say the same about DIVX/DVD but even J6P could have predicted divx was going to fail. With the HD war, it will be long and I would rather buy a player when there is a clear winner.

If it's going to be such a long war, why would your purchase be obsolete in a year?

Should HD DVD (or BD, for that matter) lose the format war, the players also make excellent upscaling SD DVD players, in addition to playing high def discs. (In effect, they replace and upgrade current SD DVD players.)

Someday all the current disc formats will be obsolete and be supplanted by "the next big thing". In the meantime I can watch HD discs in high definition. Your reluctance to buy an inexpensive HD DVD player for fear of obsolescence puzzles me. I fail to see the downside.

Like you I am frugal, nevertheless I have spent vastly more money on my DVD collection than I have on players. This, despite getting the vast majority of my DVDs for $5 - $8 from Columbia House. I would guess that $200 or so is a trivial cost compared to the cost of a disc library for most of us. Even for those who only rent discs, the rental cost will still exceed the cost of a player in short order.

Like many here I will eventually have players for both formats, so that if one "wins" I'll be covered. But the other player and discs won't stop working on the day that side throws in the towel. And by that time I will already have gotten my money's worth out of it.

You are, of course, free to do as you wish. But your rationale for not buying an inexpensive HD DVD player (or BD player when they get down to $200) doesn't make much sense to me.

No argument there, but one factor to keep in mind is that even if either format (or both) go belly-up, $200 isn't a bad price for a player that will always upconvert standard DVDs to 1080p.

If someone doesn't own either format and doesn't plan to anytime soon, why spend time in this thread?

You're right, it might not be obselete, but the fact that I have to wait for certain titles to be available because of exclusives(which means, having one format losing and jumping ship) is a big turn off. Look at the Blu Ray owners, they're pissed they're not getting Transformers. Two weeks ago, everything was fine and dandy with Sony and Paramount. To repeat it again, it's the uncertainty.

To everyone that said about upconverting, that's a good point, I never thought of that.

Because I'm into movies and want to know what's going on with the latest technology? Is that enough of a valid reason?

I didn't know you are not supposed to post your opinion if you are against the ts opinion.

Upconversion was a big part of my decision to buy the A2. I had been considering an oppo ($150) for just that function, but when the A2 hit $250 plus 5 free discs I opted for the toshiba. Great purchase except for the slow load times and occasional hang-up.

This particular thread was about those who owned HD on disc. It wasn't about giving reasons why you are reluctant to get into HD. Paramount's deal likely means both formats will be around for a few years, if not longer. If you are waiting for 1 format to win, you may be waiting a long time.