[The News Bot]

Blu-ray has already beaten HD DVD and will replace DVD in just three years. That’s the wildly optimistic prediction of Frank Simonis, European chairman of the Blu-ray Association. Speaking at the Cebit tech-fest in Germany, on the eve of the European launch of the PS3, Simonis said that by the end of [...]
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[AgentCool]

I'll eat my hat if Blu-Ray "replaces DVD" in three years. It took longer than that for DVD to replace VHS. I doubt either HD DVD or Blu-Ray will ever replace DVD because, as far as the average consumer is concerned, DVD is still a new format having only really hit the mass-market around 5 or 6 years ago. Not only that but for Blu-Ray (or HD DVD) to replace DVD, HD Ready TVs would have to replace non-HD sets in the majority of homes and I think that's highly unlikely to happen in the next three years.

[jw250]

What a totally bizarre statement. Utterly rubbish, and highly unlikely. The fact that any fool could see that Blu-ray (or HDDVD) will not take over DVD in 3 years makes this statement from the European Chairman of Blu-ray completely embarrassing.

I'm cringeing for him... its also very counterproductive to this format battle balancing out in any way.

[movieman100]

Not to mention that if there is no freeview HD channels available, then a huge amount of people simply won't bother with a HD Ready TV set.

Fork out for a HD TV and player purely to watch the odd movie? I think not.

Whilst I see HD as the way to go, for many they couldn't give a fig, let alone choosing which HD camp to align with.

Until there is more of a choice in the way of cheap, preferably free, HD material over the airwaves, HD will remain outside of mainstream technology.

SD TVs will be replaced as and when they wear out for the majority of people. They will buy a HD Ready TV because they will have little choice. Will they also go out and buy a blu-ray or HD_DVD drive? I think if they haven't done so by that time, they won't bother at all.

[Mark_a]

It's fast becoming a cliche, but a true one I think, that by the time HD takes over from DVD then dual format HD players/recorders will be the norm. I think it highly unlikely that either camp will see off the other in that time frame, if ever, for that matter.

Regards

Mark

[trevperks]

The average person to frequent these pages may well move to HD, but DVD is a good format with a good enough picture for most people. Moving from tape to DVD was a big jump in picture quality.

I love watching HD films but other family members think im mad spending good money on “the same film with a so called better picture”.

Can the average man in the street be tempted to spend lots of money on renewing his DVD film collection?

Don’t forget it’s not a two horse race as there are other HD film services coming/already out!

The price of HD players (both formats) will fall quickly as most people won't pay a big premium over a standard player.

I reckon HD players will be under £100 within 2 years.