On the other side of the aisle, though, are some of the most popular movies for adults. Jason Bourne’s adventures are HD-DVD only, thanks to the commitment of Universal Studios. So is this summer’s hit comedy “Knocked Up” and its predecessor, “The 40-Year Old Virgin.” Critical favorites like “Erin Brokovich” and “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” are not available on Blu-ray; similarly, the comic/sci-fi fans who play a big part in the consumer electronics market must buy HD-DVD players if they want to watch the newly polished release of the original “Star Trek” series.

Given the split on content availability and the shrinking price differential, many industry analysts have recently predicted that both formats will survive for the forseeable future — a lousy situationm for consumers, who are faced with three unappealing choices: keep watching regular DVDs that under-perform on new monitors; invest in one format that might go under; or buy two separate players in order to watch the full array of high-def titles.

That decision may have gotten a bit less unattractive on Jan. 4, though. While the smell of pine needles still lingered in the air, Warner Brothers announced that it is shifting its next-generation efforts exclusively to the Blu-ray format.

“The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed,” company CEO Barry Meyer warned in a press release, “if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.” The studio says it will continue to release the HD-DVD titles it had scheduled through May, although Blu-ray versions will make it into stores ahead of them — sure to be another solid reason for fence-sitting movie lovers to pick the former format.

The depth of Warner’s catalog of movies, and its reputation as a leading producer of high-quality, bonus-heavy DVD releases, makes it tempting to gamble on this format war ending sooner than analysts expect. Readers should invest in either format with caution, but at the moment the smart money seems to be leaning Blu-ray’s way.

Copyright © 2007 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

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