Blu-ray and HD DVD war 'futile'

The ongoing battle for supremacy between the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats will present major problems to manufacturers as they attempt to influence take-up of their preferred medium, it has been claimed.

A new study from JupiterResearch claims that high definition (HD) content has little impact on purchasing decisions at the moment.

Just 24 per cent of consumers claim that HD content could motivate them to upgrade their home equipment. As there is a far greater range of content available on standard DVDs than on either HD DVD or Blu-ray formats, there is little desire amongst consumers to make the switch.

"CDs and DVDs both offered a clear value proposition to consumers when they were introduced to the marketplace. There was a visible difference in the experience that was easily grasped," Michael Gartenberg, JupiterResearch vice president and lead author of the report, explained.

"The real competitor that both these formats face is not each other, but rather low cost DVD players with up-scaling capabilities that pass the 'good enough' test for most consumers."