Simple question, but have not found a clear answer:

Of all movies released on HD discs, what percentage are available on blu ray compared to HD DVD?

And, are the announced upcoming releases expected to change or reinforce this?

The statistics I keep coming across are total sales numbers, which doesn't answer the question. Also, there are some titles available on both formats, which further confuses the issue. Toshiba emphasizes sales of their players, Sony and the blu ray camp emphasizes sales of software. So, still looking for an answer.

My rough sense is that it is 70% blu ray and 30% HD DVD.

Anybody know for sure?

Your question is a little ambiguous. Are you referring to the breakdown for current releases on a week-by-week basis? If so then the split is about 50/50 since FOX is MIA and Universal is just running wild with their release schedule. I don't know where you got 70/30 from.

I'm not 100% certain what you're looking for, but is this in the ballpark?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=741582

I just checked DVDEmpire and they have 260 Blu-Rays and 229 HD-DVDs. I think they carry all of them.

If you look at the new avs review section you will see there are 260 blu-ray releases and 300 hddvd's listed. I didnt upload any import blu-ray's to the site but there are a couple import hddvd's listed and a handful on dupes in both sections.

I believe that Blu Ray has had a larger amount up until recently (it may still be in the lead by a few titles) - Lately, however, Universal has really been cranking out catalog titles on HDDVD - 11 titles this week and 17 next week (compared to 7 this week and 1 next week on Blu Ray).

Unfortunately, a number of these catalog releases seem to be "average" as of lately, with not a whole lot of effort put into providing a high quality release.

Upcoming release dates:
Blu Ray: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html
HDDVD: http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html

I am guessing you are looking for http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=766588&page=1

if you want numbers quote his post and then copy the movie list and paste it in excel that way you will have the colour tags and can use them to differentiate the movies

as for % they change per week usually BD has more but sometimes HD DVD has more. For the most part there are more BD releases but not 70/30 Warner keeps some HD DVD only so that they can manipulate the numbers and say the saes of BD and HD DVD are close. Also not all studios are the same.

Excellent info. Thank you. It seems that the common assertion that there is a lot more blu ray content than HD DVD content is overstated. On the other hand, a large number of HD DVD titles are also available as blu ray discs (right?), while only the universal titles are exclusively HD DVD (right?).

So, I think I need to revise the question: of the titles available as HD discs, what percentage are available as blu ray and what percentage are available as HD DVD? In other words, if one only has a blu ray player (or only an HD DVD player), what percentage of HD title releases is one actually missing out on by going with one format vs. the other? Doesn't this calculation favor blu ray, or am I missing something here?

while only the universal titles are exclusively HD DVD (right?).

not exactly, there is Weinstein as well (but they don't have anything) and WB has some HD DVD onmly that they keep on saying will soon be on BD

Again if you use the lists (2006/2007) the red ones are only available on HD DVD

Excellent info. Thank you. It seems that the common assertion that there is a lot more blu ray content than HD DVD content is overstated. On the other hand, a large number of HD DVD titles are also available as blu ray discs (right?), while only the universal titles are exclusively HD DVD (right?).

So, I think I need to revise the question: of the titles available as HD discs, what percentage are available as blu ray and what percentage are available as HD DVD? In other words, if one only has a blu ray player (or only an HD DVD player), what percentage of HD title releases is one actually missing out on by going with one format vs. the other? Doesn't this calculation favor blu ray, or am I missing something here?

You mean what movies are exclusive on one format and not the other?
Are we including the WB movies NOT on Blu-Ray yet, but may be someday?
Its probably about even at this point, if not very soon with Universals 45+ exclusives this summer. You're asking way too much :cool:

not exactly, there is Weinstein as well (but they don't have anything)

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but they've released more titles than MGM has on the BD side.

They don't have a huge library at this point, but they do have good titles and they are actually releasing them.

Thanks, guys, alas, looks like I will need to go "format neutral" and get one of each. Probably the Samsung 1200 (partly for upconversion quality) and the Toshiba A2 (or alternatively the XA2 for upconversion quality and the new Sony bluray player).

Thanks, guys, alas, looks like I will need to go "format neutral" and get one of each. Probably the Samsung 1200 (partly for upconversion quality) and the Toshiba A2 (or alternatively the XA2 for upconversion quality and the new Sony bluray player).

You like Universal films that much? I'd wait till EOY to buy into HD-DVD. I've got a feeling things will end by then. We've got toshiba's players not selling well even at fire-sale prices, universal the only studio and Blu-Ray prices dropping fast as well as lots of Blu-Ray exclusives coming (I anticipate) in Q4.

You like Universal films that much? I'd wait till EOY to buy into HD-DVD. I've got a feeling things will end by then. We've got toshiba's players not selling well even at fire-sale prices, universal the only studio and Blu-Ray prices dropping fast as well as lots of Blu-Ray exclusives coming (I anticipate) in Q4.

Universal is the only exclusive studio that doesn't have any releases in BD, not the only studio, Toshiba player are selling well at least compared to BD stand alone players. Look at the list of exclusive releases on HDDVD compared to BD for the next three months and it's heavily in favor of HDDVD in quantity (and quality IMO).

Art

You like Universal films that much? I'd wait till EOY to buy into HD-DVD. I've got a feeling things will end by then. We've got toshiba's players not selling well even at fire-sale prices, universal the only studio and Blu-Ray prices dropping fast as well as lots of Blu-Ray exclusives coming (I anticipate) in Q4.

There's about 170 HD DVDs that are not out on blu-ray (and the list is growing every week). And they aren't all Universal films. There's plenty of logical reasons to go neutral (as many have).

And, while I realize that Toshiba just lowered their 07 sales expectations from the original (silly) number, can you show me evidence that the players are "not selling well"? The A2 has been the number one seller at Amazon (among *all* DVD players) for a couple of weeks now. And two other Toshibas are in the top 10.

Finally, I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think this will all end in 6 months. I suspect that both sides will have something to crow about for Q4 -- my guess would be strong hardware sales on the HD DVD side and strong software sales (Spidey, Pirates, etc.) on the BD side. But sales will still overall be soft for both and neither side is going anywhere.

You like Universal films that much? I'd wait till EOY to buy into HD-DVD. I've got a feeling things will end by then. We've got toshiba's players not selling well even at fire-sale prices, universal the only studio and Blu-Ray prices dropping fast as well as lots of Blu-Ray exclusives coming (I anticipate) in Q4.


I would say the opposite. HD-DVD players are flying off the shelves vs there blu couterparts. HD-DVD prices are much easier to swallow than blu-ray players if either format dies. Blu-Ray still isnt fianlized, so if your going blu first, wait until Nov 1,2007.
And then you can look at the release shedules, blu-rays release promises are nowhere to be found. The main Exclusive studios in the blu, are not releasing even half of what they promised. HD-DVD is the only safe bet right now, its a finalized format, and its cheaper too.

Saying HD-DVD players are not selling is pure FUD, every sale sofar has sold out completely.

But in the end, buy what you like, im not here to convince anyone to buy one or the other, just to correct false information, or help your answer be a little less biased.

Finally, I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think this will all end in 6 months. I suspect that both sides will have something to crow about for Q4 -- my guess would be strong hardware sales on the HD DVD side and strong software sales (Spidey, Pirates, etc.) on the BD side. But sales will still overall be soft for both and neither side is going anywhere.
While I don't think this 'war' will end by the end of the year, I do believe the future should be relatively clear by the end of CES 2008. I personally think one side or the other will start pulling ahead by the end of this year. I also think we might hear some interesting news from Universal at the coming CES.

My guess is the BDA will have some fairly competitively priced hardware on the market for the holiday season (if not sooner) which will take a good bite out of the projected HD-DVD hardware sales. The other factor is the big question mark called the PS3. I believe there are many exclusive games scheduled to hit the market during Q4. There are also strong rumors that the PS3 will get a needed price cut. It will be interesting to see if this can spark PS3 sales. I personally don't think the PS3 will ever really 'take-off', but if nothing else there will still be several million of them kicking around which can contribute to BR sales.

And as you mentioned, I suspect BR will have stronger software sales as they appear to have the majority of the BB titles consumers are generally looking for. I think we'll see Fox back in the game (along with Disney as well). I also expect to see the missing Warner titles on BR during Q4. All this combined with good hardware sales on the BR side should be enough for the BDA to pull a nice 4+:1 lead over HD-DVD by the end of the year. If this happens, I suspect Universal will have to go neutral for CES and HD-DVD will quickly become an even smaller niche market with support for only a couple more years.

Obviously we don't yet know what's going to happen, but the above is my best guess.

From Engadget HD:
In case you forgot, we went back and recounted the totals last week, so sans any changes in the past week, this total should include every title available up until June 12th, 2007.

HD DVD 223 vs Blu-ray 254.

So they are pretty even at this point. This includes only US released titles.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but they've released more titles than MGM has on the BD side.

They don't have a huge library at this point, but they do have good titles and they are actually releasing them.


Yeah no kidding. I loves me some Weistein.

We've got toshiba's players not selling well even at fire-sale prices

Where do you get off making random statements like that?