Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: Choose or maybe lose

It also has a possible limitation in that, unlike the HD-A2 and the PlayStation, it does not connect to the Internet. The HD-A2 has an Ethernet jack for connecting the unit to an Internet router. The usefulness of that feature is not clear at the moment, though. Future HD DVD discs could connect to the Internet for special features like online games, and Toshiba may send software upgrades to the player that way.

Even so, the BDP-S1 is a fine machine. But I can’t quite recommend buying a PlayStation 3 for use exclusively as a Blu-ray player, mainly because it’s loud. Being more versatile than the other units, it contains more heat-generating chips, which means more ventilation is needed. The noise isn’t so loud that it will intrude on your movies, but it’s audible when nothing is playing, and it felt like a disharmonious, industrial element in the living room.

Expensive TV merits HD player
The PlayStation’s wireless controller is hard to use, so if you’re going to watch Blu-ray discs more than occasionally, I recommend getting Sony’s $25 video-style remote. If you have a good DVD player, keep it: The PlayStation does not upconvert DVDs.

The PlayStation does get a star for being the only unit that you can stand vertically, which might help if you’re short of space.

So both the stand-alone players are good. Should you get one? If you’ve spent $2,000 or more on an HDTV, I’d say yes. Get your money’s worth from your TV set.

It’s tougher to say which player to get. I liked the HD DVD player, and the discs had a more consistent image quality, probably because they use a more sophisticated mathematical formula, or codec, to pack the movie into the disc.

Blu-ray discs selling faster
Some Blu-ray movies showed slight smearing of colors in darker scenes, and “The Fifth Element,” an early disc, was overall not as crisp as it should have been. But the image quality of recent Blu-ray discs was a clear improvement, and the format has more support from Hollywood studios. Also, the PlayStation 3 is the most common HD player out there, so Blu-ray discs are selling faster than HD DVDs, according to Nielsen VideoScan.

Blu-ray appears to have the edge, but it’s still up in the air. What if the format you buy into turns out to be the Betamax of the matchup?

For one thing, you can minimize your risk by renting, not buying, discs. Netflix has every HD DVD and Blu-ray disc that’s out.

Secondly, consider this: In two years’ time, when you realize you’ve bet on the wrong horse, a player for the dominant format is going to cost maybe $200. Buy one, and keep your first player to play the “wrong” format discs you’ve bought.

See? There’s no reason to fear the format fight.

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