The High-def DVD dilemma

Wait to buy your High-def DVD's because the format wars aren't over yet! You'll need a new TV, a new player, and more expensive discs to boot!

The consumer world has been overwhelmed with news of HDTV’s, High-Def DVDs, etc. A good number of consumers don’t even understand what is going on with the high definition formats, for starters.

Someone could go out and purchase a Blu-ray or HD-DVD and not even realize that their current TV only purchased a few years ago will not be able to handle the full capability of the disc, or even be able to show it at all. Not only do consumers have to purchase new TVs, but they also have to drop $200-400 for a High-def player for the new disc formats.

"Enlightened" techies realize that consumers who buy DVDs now may be between a rock and hard place in a year or two because the DVD format wars have not been settled yet. If you’re planning to buy any High-def DVD’s, it’s best to wait at least another 6 months to a year until a more definite winner emerges in the High-def wars. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to buy high-def DVD now, unless you have several hundred dollars to burn in the future to buy a dual-format player (currently about $1,000) or replace your High-def DVD’s with the winning format.

Yes, High-Def DVD’s have over twice the resolution of standard DVDs. Even though I’m an avid movie fan, and have a collection of over 100 DVD’s, I’ll hold out until price of High-def player units and HDTV's levels out. To look at a past example, DVDs started hitting the consumer market in about 1997. They started becoming more popular in 2000-2001 and it wasn’t until around 2005/06 that DVD sales finally surpassed VHS sales. At our local movie rental store it was only in the past year that they finally cleared out most of the old VHS’s still remaining on the shelves.

The "old" DVD format should serve as a good example of a new format taking about five years of growing popularity before it saturated the market and surpassed the sales of the previous format. Whichever DVD format emerges as the winner will likely take even longer because of all of associated costs with upgrading to high-def (a new TV, a new player, some new movies). Even if the economy is going strong, I know plenty of people that will not be willing to drop $1,000-$2,000 just to get the high-def experience.