Thomas K. Arnold, contributor to the industry’s Home Media Magazine, has told the HD DVD Promotional Group, in no uncertain terms, to "knock it off" and put an end to the high definition disc format war.
Claiming not to find favour with either of the main disc formats, he says that, despite Blu-ray still playing catchup on features, those supporting HD DVD should now "take the high road and, for the good of the entire industry, bow out."
Hmm, I can’t see that happening any time soon. Toshiba still seem very set on their beloved format, and I reckon they’ll hang on to it for as long as possible.
However, it’s consumer confusion which is holding high definition discs back:
Prolonging a format war that never should have happened in the first place makes no sense at this point. Study after study shows that consumer confusion is the No. 1 reason people aren’t rushing out to buy HD media hardware or software, and the format war is the reason everyone’s so confused — why risk buying something that six months down the road could be obsolete?
Quite honestly, I never favored either Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD. I saw the advantages of both. I also believe we need a successor technology, one that takes full advantage of HDTV and presents viewers with a true high-definition picture.
