Junk I can't afford, but want (and I'm sure Jordan has)

By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Two months into the format war over the next generation of home video discs, neither HD DVD nor Blu-ray has made much of an impact on the market.
So far, fewer than 5,000 high-definition players have sold, estimates Mike Paxton of In-Stat, a Scottsdale, Ariz., tech research firm.

That's not too surprising, given the marketplace confusion over the dueling formats and the time it usually takes consumers to adopt new technologies.

But what is surprising is that reviewers say HD DVD matches up well with Blu-ray, which was expected to have the superior image.

HD DVD came out in April, two months before rival format Blu-ray in June, but most industry observers expected Blu-ray to quickly overtake HD DVD.

That HD DVD's quality matches and sometimes surpasses Blu-ray's is "very much a surprise," says Peter Bracke of HighDefDigest.com.

Blu-ray discs can hold more data than HD DVDs. Both discs look like DVDs but pack data more tightly and can process more video faster. Both formats deliver images with up to six times more resolution than DVD.

"Both formats are very equal," says Ron Sanders of Warner Home Video, which is releasing movies on both formats. "We wish there were one format. That would make consumers' options easier."

Consumers interested in video games are expected to vote for Blu-ray by buying the PlayStation 3 ($499 or $599, due in November), which also plays Blu-ray discs.

Later this year, Microsoft is expected to sell an external HD DVD drive that connects to its Xbox 360 video game system.

Tweeter stores' Frank Roshinski expects that as more movies come out, Blu-ray will match HD DVD's quality. "Next Christmas is when this format war really kicks in."

Mike Snider compares the two new high-definition movie disc formats and how they stack up to current DVD:

The test system: Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD player ($799) and Samsung BD-P100 ($999), Mitsubishi 57-inch HDTV capable of displaying 1080 progressive video, Yamaha audio/video receiver, six speaker surround sound system.

The Toshiba player starts up much more slowly than does a standard DVD player. Once it's going, though, the quality isstunning. Training Day, one of three Warner Home Video movies available on both HD DVD and Blu-ray, looked far superior than on DVD. Richer colors and increased sharpness and depth added to the film's gritty realism. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Rumor Has It, the other Warner releases on both formats, also had DVD versions on the flip side (priced at $40 vs. $29 for Training Day, which has no DVD version).

It's on Constantine and The Bourne Supremacy that you get a glimpse of HD DVD's interactive possibilities. Each has an "in-movie" mode that lets you watch the filmmakers and stars in a small picture-in-picture window superimposed over the film.

Viewing experience: The Samsung Blu-ray player started up quicker than the HD DVD player did, but still not as fast as a DVD player. In Training Day, the colors were muted compared with the HD DVD version. Still, the images had more detail and contrast than DVD. (Because the Samsung player outputs video progressively — redrawing all 1,080 lines 60 times each second, while the Toshiba HD DVD's video is "interlaced," drawing half the lines with each pass — you might expect the Blu-ray video to be superior.)
On Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Chapter 18), Blu-ray brought more definition to the colors and shadows in the apartment. And the crisp black-and-white video of Good Night, and Good Luck was superb.

Blu-ray, which promises advanced interactivity, has plenty of room to grow.

HD DVD gets a B+ as an impressive — and less expensive — high-def option. Grade Blu-ray gets a B- for not delivering the promised "wow" factor.