Survey: 47% Interested in Hi-Def DVD
Calling it "the old beta versus VHS dilemma," Blockbuster Online said Thursday it will carry both HD DVD and Blu-ray high-definition movies when they begin to ship next month. Subscribers can begin adding HD DVD films to their rental queues on April 18, and Blu-ray titles are set to be available on May 23.
Blockbuster also held a survey among its members and found that 55 percent had an HD-capable television and 47 percent were "very interested" in the new technology. Still, only one-third of subscribers said they planned to purchase HD-capable DVD hardware due to high pricing and the lack of a unified standard.
HD DVD, backed by Toshiba and Microsoft, is officially launching this month with players going on sale for $499 and $799 USD. Blu-ray will be priced quite a bit higher, with the cheapest standalone player from Sony priced at $1000 USD. Sony expects the launch of the PS3 late this year to aid in the adoption of its format by bringing to market a low-cost player.
"There's no way to know how long it's going to take for the general market to decide which formats will ultimately prevail. So while this shakes out, we're just going to listen to our customers and make sure we give them the movies they want in the format they prefer -- whatever the technology," said Shane Evangelist, senior vice president of Blockbuster Online.
Blockbuster said "The Matrix" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" were atop the list of what movies customers want to see in high-definition. However, "The Last Samurai," "Million Dollar Baby," Phantom of the Opera" and "Serenity" will be the first movies to ship in HD DVD format.
Leading online DVD rental service Netflix is taking a similar approach and plans to offer both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs to customers.