The more information I get about HD-DVD and BluRay disc the more they both intrigue me. When you look at the supporters of each format, you can see this is going to be a real battle that perhaps no one will win(including the consumer). The more informed I am, the more I am pushed to support BluRay. Why? First it's storage capacity on disc is higher which mean more content, or uncompressed lossless content. Secondly it's ability to grow as a fomat(extra layers mean more storage space). And lastly, it is backwards compatible with current DVD standards.

The fly in the ointment boils down to this. You have computer companies supporting BluRay along with three movie studios. HD DVD has four movie studios and also has support from a few electronic manufacturers. Aside from Sony, Columbia, and MGM neither format has exclusive studio support, and many studio's are opting to support both.

Purely from a technical standpoint BluRay wins hands down. But that will not translate into consumer success as Betamax owner know very well. HD DVD by name sake has better brand recognition(DVD), and is positioning itself as evolutionary as opposed to BluRay's revolutionary.

At this point I am behind BluRay with a caveat. I will not be a early adopter like I was for D-VHS, which turned out to be a green herring. I have amassed over 1100 DVD's(blockbuster movies and twenty five years of drum and bugle corps legacy DVD's) and I have no desired to replace them. I will stop buying them when BluRay hits, and that is another problem for the studio's. What if millions of consumers do exactly the same thing. That will present a huge problem for the revenue stream of the major studio's. Personally I cannot see how the introduction of these new formats will benefit the studio unless they support them. Either way its a chance in darkness for them. Universal players are of no use in this instance because both formats are video formats, and studio will not created to different inventories just to support both formats.

IMO, it is too early to introduce this technology. DVD hasn't been on the market but 8 years, and already we are seeing the beginnings of its turnover. Laserdisc and VHS enjoyed a longer life than this format. DVD like the laserdisc and VHS will die a very slow death(if at all) if either of the two formats does gain a foothold into the market.

I am definately taking a wait and see attitude even though I fully support BluRay

Okay, that is all. Talk amoungst yourselves