What did Blu-ray win?
Last spring, Sony appeared to score a decisive blow in the high-definition video sweepstakes when its Blu-ray video format won the endorsement of Hollywood studios and major retailers, claiming victory over Toshiba's rival HD-DVD format.
It seemed it would only be a matter of time before the buying public would line up to buy Blu-ray players, which were sure to flood the marketplace at a friendly price.
That hasn't happened.
An estimated 10 million US households had Blu-ray players by the end of 2008, including PlayStation 3 units that come with Blu-ray players built-in. That's less than 10% of the number of television households in the country - a figure ACNielsen places at 114.5 million.
Blu-ray technology offers high-quality pictures, but it's not clear that the improved viewing experience will sway consumers to spend money on the new technology.
"Whether people can tell the difference is largely dependent on the size of the screen," Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media told TechNewsWorld. "If it's a 6-foot diagonal screen, for instance, Blu-ray will definitely look better. With a really big screen - and I'm not sure where they draw the line - Blu-ray has a difference."
However, Blu-ray's up-quality picture advantage likely is not compelling on a typical HD screen 42 inches or smaller, said Leigh.
