Salt Lake Tribune advocating jump to HDM now, "Blu-ray"

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http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/ci_7620353

Take the plunge into high-def DVD water
By Vince Horiuchi
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 12/02/2007 11:21:50 PM MST


This season, a lot of people have been asking me if it's worth jumping on to the high-definition DVD bandwagon.
Despite an ugly high-def disc format war that is raging between the Sony-backed Blu-ray disc and Toshiba-supported HD-DVD, I'm almost ready to tell people to wipe the sweat from their brow and go for it. This isn't just the advice of a known early adopter, either.
If you own a high-definition television, which has resolution much finer than a regular TV, you'll marvel at a picture that's six times sharper. The problem is, the number of channels broadcasting in HD is still limited. So being able to watch movies in HD is another reason to own that HD set.
And the HD disc formats have superior sound, beyond the usual surround sound experience. If you have a more-than-decent stereo system hooked to your television, take advantage of it with an HD disc that uses high-definition audio as well as video. Believe it or not, you'll hear the difference, especially with a sound effects-heavy movie like "Pirates of the Caribbean."
If you decide to pull the trigger on buying a player, the first big question is: Which format?

I say Blu-ray. Here's why:

Since the beginning of the year, Blu-ray movies have outsold HD-DVD discs in the U.S. at least 2 to 1. In Europe, it's nearly 3 to 1 in favor of Blu-ray.
According to Nielsen VideoScan data, Blu-ray represented 72.6 percent to HD-DVD's 27.4 percent of all high-definition discs sold in America on Black Friday (the first day of holiday shopping after Thanksgiving). And this is after the HD-DVD people introduced a $199 budget disc player at Wal-Marts.
But Blu-ray is the format used in the PlayStation 3 system, which now sells for $399, and other under-$300 players are due soon.
Finally, more studios support the Blu-ray format exclusively than HD-DVD. Exclusive studio support for Blu-ray includes Disney, which is a boon for families, and Sony and Fox. Of the 10 biggest grossing films this year, five of them are or will be distributed exclusively on Blu-ray with three of them going HD-DVD only.
And for those who think watching movies streamed from the Internet to TV is the future, think again.
That's an idea that won't take off until someone figures out how to get the Internet into living rooms and onto TVs without paying extra for a new receiver box. Even Apple couldn't even do it with its Apple TV device.
So if you who have a high-definition TV - and we're growing in number every day - jump into the high-def DVD water. It's fine.