Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD Porn.

As we approach the Holiday season, there's no doubt High Definition DVD players are on the Christmas wishlist of many good little boys and girls. And, Santa will probably be delivering quite a few of these units on December 24th. So, the question might be, will he deliver more players in the Blu-Ray format or the HD-DVD format? Last year would have been the first year anyone would have found one of these machines gift-wrapped and under their tree. A year later, there's still no clear cut winner in this race, and the fact is, there may never be one. However, at this point, Blu-Ray seems to have a couple more things going for it than HD-DVD does. If there's a technological edge, that edge arguably looks to be in Blu-Ray's favor. Blu-Ray discs are able to accommodate or store more data and information. While HD-DVD is developing newer versions to increase their storage capabilities, so is Blu-Ray. When HD-DVD introduces its new 51 GB disc, beating Blu-Ray's current 50 GB version by 1 GB, it's reported that Blu-Ray will follow sometime later with its introduction of a 100 GB disc.

Another point that seems to be in Blu-Ray's favor is that it currently offers more titles than HD-DVD... giving users more choices of movies to watch. Assuming HD-DVD will catch up to Blu-Ray in this area, the unclear future of the technology will give many consumers reason to be concerned about which format to back through the purchase of one or the other. So, as a means of encouraging consumers to jump onto the high definition bandwagon, some companies are making products that will essentially future-proof their purchase. The electronics company, LG, has introduced a combo, high definition player that contains the circuitry to play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs. It carries a $1,200 price tag. And while LG has addressed the hardware issue, Warner has turned its attention to the software issue by introducing combo discs. Warner's new Total HD format (THD) puts an HD-DVD and a Blu-Ray version of the same movie on a single disc, which the company claims will sell for the same price as its single-format counterpart. Both of these developments appear to be a good hedge against the unclear future of high-definition DVDs.

Now, a lot has been written and debated about the influence of the Porn factor on this issue. The appearance of adult movies on VHS was said to be a key factor in that format's eventual victory over porn-free Beta. However, despite reports the Porn industry was moving toward the HD-DVD format for its products because it anticipated getting the cold shoulder from Blu Ray... neither of these developments have actually happened. Some adult studios are releasing their HD titles on both formats, and Blu-Ray hasn't been as unwelcoming to the industry as it was first thought it would be. Plus, a factor in all of this that didn't exist in the VHS vs. Beta battle some years back, is the technology that provides movie downloads and viewing via the Internet. Obviously, there's lots of porn online if viewers can get past the inferior video and audio quality that Net downloads are only capable of delivering at this point. As technology advances, it's expected that the internet will arrive at a point where it provides viewing quality closer to what a DVD delivers. But, the state-of-the-technology is... it's not even close at this point. Despite the fact, that many producers and websites in the porn industry who have switched gears to deliver their product over the Net rather than DVD are boasting that it does. The truth is, there are storage and bandwidth issues that are some years away in being solved before internet downloads can rival DVD quality. Couple this with the slowing of broadband growth (it's still expanding, but not as much growth is occurring as was anticipated) and high-quality internet viewing probably will not happen to the extent, or as fast as many were hoping for, or have predicted. So, it comes back to the issue of the DVD being King when quality matters. Now, it's only a matter of whether your choice is Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, and either way, it's the consumer who appears to be winner.

"Pirates" (cover art shown above) starring Teagan Presley and Jesse Jane is one of the adult industry's first releases of a high definition DVD. It's availiable in the HD-DVD format.