Isuppli senior analyst for consumer electronics Chris Crotty has predicted a virtual standoff between Blu-ray and HD DVD, at least in the short term.
One reason for the stalemate, according to Crotty is that neither product has a clear technology advantage.
"It's not as if you can point to one of them and say, 'this is significantly better, for these reasons,'" Crotty said.
But technology is only part of the equation, Crotty said. Content houses, which have the market power to pick a winner by producing titles for one format or the other exclusively, have remained reluctant to declare a winner. Some studios are taking the costly step of producing titles for both formats, while others have opted for either Blu-ray or HD DVD.
In other words, the format war has split content producers.
Responding to a split market, manufactures such as Samsung have reportedly begun work on players that can support movies on both formats.
According to Crotty, dual format players will mean a nagging format dispute, with no real effect on consumers, because players that support both formats mean buyers won’t have to decide.
While Crotty predicts a long fight without a clear-cut winner likely to emerge soon, he did concede that the high volume of adult titles released each year might be the deciding factor.
“Some people will argue that the ultimate winner in this situation is based on what the adult film business adopts," Crotty said.
Recent delays in launching the next generation of DVD players by major manufacturers and price cuts on titles by content producers have characterized the overall apathy among consumers for either format.
