The two rival formats for high definition, the successor of DVD, consumers, and while Blu-ray and HD-DVD, the race is far from over.

This month of the tourist season saw some HDDVD player for less than $ 98 for Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) WMT, while $ 199, plus a price. Blu-ray Disc Player producers to reduce their prices as well as some machines sold, less than $ 299.

Including video game consoles and 2.7 million Blu-ray Disc Player are sold, compared with 750,000 HD-DVD in North America, as on December 1, shows the two associations for standards. Toshiba HD-DVD starts in the United States, in April 2006, and Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) END Blu-ray Disc, June. December figures are not yet available, although observers say, sales appear to be rising for both formats.

“Many people have conflicting views on the equipment as a leader of turnover, but we should not in the content distribution equipment sales,” said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of Product Planning Pioneer Home Entertainment Group, and the chairman of the Blu - Ray Disc Association Promotions Committee.

Blu-ray has sold more than 4 million shares of software in the United States from 1 December this, as compared to 2.6 million shares of software for HD-DVD, “he says.

Blu-ray Disc was produced films with HD-DVD movies from two to one margin this year, Mr. Parsons.

The main drawback of the HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc is that the content on a format that is not always available in the other. In the field of high-def disc formats are not playing on the other machines, except in the format Dual dear reader.

Standard-def makes work

Another factor again possession of the adoption of a high-def default, the consumer is love DVDs. Many of them are satisfied with the quality of standard definition digital discs, especially when it is played in most recent DVD players, “upconvert” of the video quality in the vicinity of high-def.

“If we are in competition, it is not really Blu-ray. It’s DVD,” says Ken Graffeo, Executive Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Universal Studios HD (NYSE: GE) Home Entertainment, and co-chairman of the HD-DVD Promotion Group. “People are very satisfied with their DVDs.

Toshiba has been tried, Push HD-DVD prematurely in the mass market, the Blu-ray disc, “says Parsons. It took three years of DVD to a mass market product, “he says. Both high-def disc formats have been on the market only for 18 months.

Plus, with HDTV, and only about one-third of households in the United States, many consumers are not ready for a high-def-Disc Player.

Is increasingly content for a price still early Adopt market, and there must be more to him before the turnover mass market happen, “said Parsons.

“Toshiba’s burning the candle at both ends of this moment, this aggressive pricing policy players,” said Parsons.

For now, Toshiba is the only major manufacturer of HD-DVD players. Enterprise, the Blu-ray Disc Player includes Panasonic (NYSE: MC), PHG, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony.

The movie studios believe that the key to victory format, analysts say. But they are divided.

The momentum was in the Blu-ray Disc’s favor until two studios - VIA’s Viacom, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation DWA - announced in August that it is exclusively HD-DVD. Both had previously assured the two formats. The studios have reports according to a combined $ 150 million and incentives Toshiba HD-DVD only.

TWX Time Warner’s Warner Bros., the studio does not cover two formats, umworben has been on both sides of a back cover exclusively. Say analysts, Blu-ray has the best shot at landing a deal with Warner.

Four major studios to defer only Blu-ray: Sony, MGM, Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) (NYSE: DCQ) DIS and News Corp. ’s (NYSE: NWS) Twentieth Century Fox NWS.

Three studios back HD-DVD exclusively. In addition to Paramount and DreamWorks, the HD-DVD is the warehouse of NBC Universal.

Director Bay Vs. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)

Film director Michael Bay and complained at the beginning of December to its official website, Microsoft MSFT is financial support for HD-DVD, because it is both high-tech def disc formats to ‘failure.

“This is the secret of person to talk dirty,” said Bay, the director of the recent film “Hit-Transformers.” “They want the confusion in the market, until it is perfect digital downloads.” Microsoft sells film and HD TV Show downloads on its video game console by its Xbox Live Marketplace.

Microsoft invites Bay’s comments “baseless”.

“Microsoft believes that HD DVD offers the best quality and value to consumers and is the best of the next generation DVD format for the industry”, Jordi Ribas, CEO of the HD-DVD group Microsoft, said in a statement. “We have major investments in technology and the HD-DVD interactive HDi our level of our VC-1 video codec, and has over 100 employees with Microsoft, is dedicated to the success of the HD-DVD.”

Microsoft was also shot down speculation that HD-DVD support in order to prevent its video game console by Sony rivals for a place in the digital living room with Blu-ray Disc

Both formats plan, a home screen of the International Consumer Electronics Show, 7-10 January in Las Vegas. HD-DVD-officials are progress in reducing costs for the players and the recovery of content providers. Blu-ray officials plan to play, the fact that it is more on the content, what consumers want to buy, and greater choice and manufacturers of readers.

“It is a battle of press releases at the moment,” said Josh Martin, an analyst at Yankee Group. Regardless of what is said on both sides, most consumers buy not high-def-Disc Player, until a pattern has emerged as the winner, “he says.

Observers say that almost all consumers of a key standard, the definition DVDs, at least until 2008.