Not for me to take a stand on the totally ridiculous war going on between HD DVD and Blu-ray. A plague on both their houses. The idea that a new player will handle both formats is somewhat misleading. It will handle quite a lot of both formats. It is possible to put up an argument that DVD will see them both out because a single movie fits very well on to a single DVD. But as we move higher and higher in resolutions a bigger size disk would not, in itself, be a bad idea.

So which will it be? HD DVD or Blu-Ray?

Forget, for the moment, the spruiking going on by assorted manufacturers and movie makers about which will be the format to go with. They are all talking from entrenched and biased positions.

Come, instead, to the coal face of disk formats and ask yourself what xxx movies will chose. The figures are compelling. The number of wicked movies sold is more than somewhat. Forbes estimates $14 billion in annual sales as of 2001 and you could easily double that today.  An educated guess would be that where the adult film industry goes so the rest of the world will follow.

And the answer is HD DVD. If adult filmmakers throw their weight behind HD DVD and largely ignore Blu-ray, it will boost the fortunes of HD DVD? And, almost totally, the adult film industry has declared it is going with HD DVD. Why?

Because it is much cheaper to put movies on HD DVD than it is on Blu-ray. And that is a very good reason for the adult industry to choose that format.

If it has chosen HD DVD – and I am quite sure this is so — the situation becomes clearer. While none of us is going to go to our local electronic retailer and ask what format feelthy pictures will chose we will know that is the format they are offered in and that is the way they will go.

There is a second aspect to this story which has some interest. There is a suggestion that Blu-ray manufacturing facilities will not press discs as Sony threatens to pull licenses if they produce adult content.

The Blu-ray Disc Association (such a good name) said that this is not true. Officially the Blu-ray people are welcoming blue movies with open arms.

The porn industry states HD DVD is easier and cheaper to produce. And generally it is believed: ‘Only bigger studios can afford Blu-ray, and even then it’s not economical.’

OK, does this all mean HD DVD will be the winner in the battle?

I think so. Go back to the VHS Betamax war. (Yes, yes, I know it was before your time but try.) What format did adult movies go with from the beginning? VHS. Which format won? Quite so.

Related:

Entry was posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007 at 8:45 am under Media players, Opinion.

Read more entries by Gareth Powell.
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