So here are hard numbers from Videoscan/Nielsen that Grubert posted over at AVS. I'm sure he was going to make his way back here eventually

I figured one of you would gloat.

Not gloating. People on both sides have always questioned the validity of thedvdwars.com/Amazon thing when it was going either way. So this and DVDEmpire is the closest thing to actual sales numbers that we've seen thus far.

Help me out-I'm not a SoundScan guy. What do the numbers mean? Relative percentages of what exactly? Sorry if that's a dumb question...

I don't understand those figures at all, but I do understand the fact that HD DVD has released very little worth buying in two months. That is the quickest way to lose a format war. When Casino Royale and the other big BD titles hit in March I don't see how HD DVD will compete. When are the next big HD DVD titles coming out, Fall 2007?

So do the 100.0 titles mean they are the best selling title and the percentages next to the other titles are the sales relative to the Number 1?

methinks so.

Um, where is Superman Returns on HD DVD? If that is such a top seller, why is it not even in the top 5 for HD DVD? Troy is outselling that?

Seems odd that Crank would be the best selling BD title.

Crank was in top 100 at amazon for about a week or two.

Crank seems odd to be #1 but the fucking Covenant doesn't?! That to me is a complete shocker.

Well, with the current release schedule tha data seems about right. HD-DVD will have given back all of its lead pretty soon if they don't do something to address the complete lack of interesting new titles available. I still buy anything on both on HD-DVD, but to be quite frank, there just is not much left on HD-DVD I am ready to run out and buy right now.

This is with just Crank. Imagine the numbers when Casino Royale comes out...

What is SI?

I think that speaks loud and clear on the success of combos. Yet, they keep making them.

I personally don't mind them, but when its obvious people are not buying them then its time to dump them.

This only reinforces my feelings during CES that HD DVD is on the brink of failure. When you consider how poorly the PS3 is selling and its still kicking HD DVD's ass then I think that tells the story.

However, I still say this tide turned because the HD DVD studios stopped releasing titles. Not only that, they did things like jack up the price of King Kong for no reason and stick with combos that also increased the cost of discs. If they had kept putting out quality titles like Batman Begins at $19.99 in Target and Wal-mart they could have kept the momentum. They got greedy and they are well on their way to killing not only HD DVD, but I'm still not convinced things are very bright for Blu-ray either. Warner is the strongest studio carrying both formats and they are about to launch their TotalHD disc which everyone knows will cost $5-$10 more at retail.

This is starting to look more and more like DVD-A vs SACD all over again. I'm wondering if either of these formats will matter a year or two from now.

"Since Inception"

The combos were topping earlier sales charts. I think their lack of appearance on this chart is just because no particularly high profile release has been exclusively on a combo for a while.

The Departed is a combo and it has been neck and neck with the Blu-Ray version for the last week or so on Amazon.

While I am a big fan of Troy it is curious that it is on this list instead of Superman Returns. WB stated at CES that Superman Returns was their highest selling HD-dvd title I believe.

Here's my take on things. For me there aren't any

Here's my take on things. For me there aren't any BD exclusive films that I'm really excited to get. I shelled out the money for an HD-DVD player because I knew I could get a lot of my favorite movies in HD without paying double the price for a machine to play them on. So unless all the studios that support HD DVD stop and release content to BD only. I feel I made the right choice with HD DVD.

CR hit 90 at Amazon today, the first day it was available to pre-order.

If I'm reading it right, each table with title breakdowns only covers one week, not since inception.

Am I reading this right? "Year to date" only accounts for 2 weeks of sales? During which there were HOW MANY HD-DVD releases???

How many releases should they have?

OP:

Choo Choo indeed!

My purchased HD-DVD to BD ratio to date is about 4:1 (116 vs 31), but that's changing fast... if all things are equal, I'm buying Blu, starting with Bullitt & The Getaway. Not saying that I won't ever favor HD DVD again, but the past 2 months have been brutal for them... I need to see some serious action again on their side first.

Of course. Bear in mind that when I posted that I was 'officially' watching TV with the missus, so there's only so many plates I can juggle.

Further clarification of what the numbers mean:




What does that mean?
YTD (year-to-date): in the period from Jan 1, 2007, to the date shown on the picture, for every 38.36 HD DVD units sold there were 100 BD units sold.
Since inception: since the inception of both formats (April 2006 to the date shown on the picture), for every 92.40 BD units sold there were 100 HD DVD units sold.