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The world is watching with suspense the war between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. The time shows that each of the opponents had bright moments of support and high sales and that of slow progress and criticism.

A HD-DVD stores between 15 and 30 GB of data. Toshiba primarily supports the format. The manufacturer plans to launch the HD-EP30 and the HD-EP35 into the market by the end of 2007. Meanwhile, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, LG Electronics and Sony promote Blu-ray. Blu-ray discs hold up to 27 GB and, in dual- layered discs, up to 54 GB. An ordinary DVD holds about 9.4 GB.

This holiday season saw some HDDVD players available for as little as USD 98 at Wal-Mart, while USD 199 was a more common low price. Blu-ray Disc player makers cut their prices as well, with some machines selling for less than USD 299. Including video game consoles, 2.7 million Blu-ray Disc players have sold vs. 750,000 HD DVD players in North America, say associations for both standards.

As of November 2007, HD DVD has the advantage in maximum disc capacity (51 GB triple-layer versus 50 GB dual-layer). However, no movies are currently scheduled to be released on the triple-layer disc; thus, Blu-ray has the advantage in currently available capacity.

It is unknown at this time whether the final triple-layer HD DVD specification will be compatible with current players. As of November 2007, 44 percent of Blu-ray titles use the 50 GB disc and 56 percent use the 25 GB disc while almost all HD DVD movies are in the 30 GB dual layer format.

Blu-ray has sold over 4 million software titles in the US. That compares with 2.6 million software titles for HD DVD. Blu-ray Disc movies have been outselling HD DVD movies by a two-to-one margin this year, said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of product planning at Pioneer Home Entertainment Group and chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association Promotions Committee.

The biggest drawback to either HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc is that content available on one format isn't always available in the other.

However, some manufacturers have created hybrid devices that play both standards. Samsung's BDP-UP5000 should be available in early 2008. The BH100 from LG Electronics will also play both formats.

Another factor holding back adoption of a high-def standard is the consumer's love of DVDs. Many are satisfied with the quality of standard-definition digital discs, especially when played in newer DVD players that can "upconvert" the video quality to near high-def.

"When we look at competitors, it's really not Blu-ray. It's DVD," said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. "People are very happy with their DVDs."

Since both formats launched in the spring of 2006, an estimated 4.98 million high-definition discs have been sold, including 3.01 million in Blu-ray and 1.97 million in HD DVD through the end of September 2007. However, those figures are dwarfed by the sales of regular DVDs. Combined, the two high-def disc formats accounted for only 2.5 percent of overall disc sales during the first half of 2007.