The 10 Devices That May Settle the High-Def Disc War
Pipeline as of October looks promising, but will consumers cast their vote?
By the HDBlu.com Staff – October 23, 2006
While customer reviews of the current high-def disc players on the market showed that HD DVD has an early lead, there are many exciting new devices on the horizon. Three key battlefronts loom, where either format may emerge the victor: video game consoles, dedicated players and computers. Expect these ten Blu-ray and HD DVD devices to carry the flag for both camps.
Video Game Consoles
Video game consoles are expected to make up almost 60% of all high-def playback devices in homes by year-end. As one might guess, upcoming developments revolve around Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. In the video game console battle, Blu-ray may have the advantage. Even though the PS3 may be suffering from supply constraints early and the Xbox 360 has a one-year head start, the PS3 actually comes with a built-in Blu-ray drive, while the Xbox 360 requires users to buy an external HD DVD drive to take advantage of true HD features.
Expected Availability |
What to Expect |
|
Sony Playstation 3 |
November 17, 2006 |
|
Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive |
Mid-November |
|
Dedicated Players
While sales of dedicated Blu-ray players and HD DVD players have not been spectacular to date, they are still projected to make up almost 30% of high-def playback devices in homes by year-end. For the upcoming year, Blu-ray has a clear advantage in terms of new offerings. While HD DVD is relying almost solely on the second generation of Toshiba's first two players, expect to see more than five new Blu-ray players to hit the market soon, including from Sony, Sharp, Pioneer, LG and Lite-On. In addition to the players featured here, Sharp's DV-BP1 is projected to release Q2'07, Lite-On's BDP-X1 is anticipated around the middle of '07, and LG's BD100 projected release is unknown. For HD DVD: Toshiba's HD-A2 should hit shelves sometime this month.
Expected Availability |
What to Expect |
|
Sony BDP-S1 |
December 4, 2006 |
|
 Toshiba HD-XA2 |
December 2006 |
|
Pioneer BDP-HD1 |
January 2007 |
|
Laptops, Media PCs and Recorders
Blu-ray and HD DVD devices are not just limited to video game consoles and disc players. Expect to see more adoption of these formats through other devices including computers/laptops, more specialized media PCs and Blu-ray and HD DVD recorders. By year-end, these devices are projected to make up over 10% of high-def playback devices in homes. The battle in this area should be intense over the next year, as both camps are seeing their high-capacity drives quickly being integrated for these high storage applications. Expect to see dual layer recording (30GB for HD DVD and 50 GB for Blu-ray) become a new standard in the coming months.
Expected Availability |
What to Expect |
|
Sony BDZ-V9 |
December 19, 2006 (Japan) |
|
 Panasonic DMR-BW200 |
November 15, 2006 (Japan) |
|
Toshiba RD-A1 |
September 2006 (Japan) |
|
Sony Vaio L |
November 6, 2006 (Japan) |
|
HP Pavilion m7600n |
Unknown |
|
Place your vote (at the top-right of this page) for what type of device you think deserves to be in your living room first. After all, users like you will ultimately decide who wins this format war. Check back soon for HDBlu staff's analysis of the results. HDBlu.com - Your one-stop resource for high definition.