HD Formats Update

Microsoft has repeatedly denied having anything to do with the $150M payouts that studios Paramount and Dreamworks have reportedly received to eschew the Blu-ray format and go all HD-DVD on their releases. Now TheDigitalBits has done some digging and is now reporting that Toshiba/the HD-DVD group are the ones that gave the financial incentives to these studios.

We've been doing a lot of digging into the events of last week, and have learned from reliable sources some of what went on behind the scenes. And our friends up in Microsoft's HD-DVD Evangelism office will be pleased to know that we've CONFIRMED what they've been saying in recent days: The $150 million payment to Paramount and DreamWorks didn't come from Microsoft. It apparently came from Toshiba and/or the HD-DVD camp collectively. We've been told that Microsoft was involved in the process, but they didn't cut the checks. We've also learned from sources inside the studio and elsewhere around the industry that, despite Paramount and DreamWorks' decision, Warner remains committed to retaining their format neutral stance, and will continue to support BOTH Blu-ray and HD-DVD for the foreseeable future. So we wanted to post this, as we believe it's reliable (the most reliable information we've been able to obtain so far from independent sources) and it clarifies the situation a little bit. 'Nuff said.

Meanwhile, a poll over at IMDB reveals that 82% of 16,500 people polled either don't know about the HD formats, don't care, or have no plans to enter the HD packaged media market. Pretty much what I had thought all along.
The simple fact is for the vast majority of people, DVD is simply good enough. The new formats do not offer the vast improvement in picture quality or features that DVD offered over VHS. There is significant improvement in the audio capability of Blu-ray, but most people are clearly not that interested in improving audio quality over the compressed 5.1 Dolby Digital sound that DVD offers. (See the current SACD vs. DVD-A "war" to support this.)
Add to this the fact that there are two incompatible formats offered, each one exclusively supported by half the major studios and that adds up to consumers not investing in HD packaged media at all.