Universal Home Entertainment's Ken Graffeo has reaffirmed his company's commitment to the HD DVD format.
Now the only studio to side exclusively with the format, he made it clear that he believes HD DVD has advantages over Blu-ray, including the lower price of HD DVD players and the mandatory interactive features.
"In Blu-Ray, the interactive specs are still just an option. The only Blu-Ray player now sold with an Ethernet port is the PlayStation 3," he said.
He continued, "When you can get below $300 for hardware, you open up the mass market. Now people are willing to jump in and buy a player. I can't imagine Blu-Ray getting even close to a $300 player this year. I expect their lead dog, PlayStation 3 (now $599) to drop $100, but that's it."
He also attributed Blu-ray's current dominance to the fact that the format had several blockbusters, such as Casino Royale, whereas Universal's releases will be stronger in the fourth quarter.
He made no mention, a la Microsoft, whether the studio would switch to Blu-ray disc production if it had obviously become the dominant format.
(Via TV Predictions)
If BBC and ITV in 2008 creates an HDMI 1.3, Freeview and PVR (pause video recorder) with either HD DVD or combo (Blu-ray and HD DVD) recorder with excellent programmes and picture quality (720p, 1080i & 1080p) at a low price than adios Blu-ray expensive players.