DVD formats: High Definition BD-R

Well it looks like the expected format war will wage onward since two of the major players have chosen not to unify thier efforts to push forward one format, but instead there wil be two... BD (blu-ray) and HD-DVD.

An announcement speaking to that issue was leaked out today.

Take the Red Pill or Take the Blue Pill

Nah... this is not the matrix and we can take them both.
Basically the technology of the future DVD high definition players can be crafted to support both formats, so there is little impediment to the high-end buyer and user...

But the Joe-Sixpack buyer will likely end up using only one format, and my guess is that is still a year or more away from playing out fully into the market. I think that a healthy percentage of first-time High Definition DVD players out there ( BD or HD-DVD ) will be in the form of the Media Centers and Video Game Machines that are being tooled for factory production right now.
In this scenario I fully expect the BD format to win market share due to momentum and the immense marketing prowess of the mega-corporations involved. Since Sony and its partners are manufacturers and content producers... the available shelf space will fill up when they want it to.

I do wonder how the Best Buy ( Magnolia ) and such chain sellers will work with this, since the price-point sensitivity of this situation may produce a perception of BD format as high end and HD-DVD as a low-end solution, which in practical reality is not true. It should be fun to see if BD gets too snobby for its own good, or becomes the format of choice due to availability on the shelf
at a competitive price point.

This outcome is actually good, since the forces of the wallet will prevail and 2 formats will in fact assure competitive pricing at the retail level... the benefits will happen for us all.