BLU-RAY DISC HD DVD BATTLE OVER DVD FORMATS LOOMS.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

When it comes to viewing movies at home, the VHS tape has all but disappeared, having been replaced in most U.S. households by the easier-to-use and store DVD disc.

So of course it's time for something even more high-tech to surface just before the holiday shopping season: high-definition DVD players and discs.

High-definition DVD is high-resolution video and audio technology that represents a clear quality improvement over the standard DVD.

With a sense of deja vu to the 1980s format war between VHS and Beta, the two high-definition formats that debuted this year, Blu-ray and HD-DVD, will battle it out for the hearts and minds of consumers.

Some are already mighty confused over the two competing technologies.

``I'm not going to do anything until people make up their minds over what they are going to do. Why are there two formats?'' wondered 19-year-old Sammy Ashouri, a college student shopping at the Best Buy store in Woodland Hills recently. ``From what I hear, there's really no difference at all. I think it's just a marketing scheme.''

With at least 25 million U.S. households expected to have high-definition television sets by the end of this year, the major studios are releasing more movies in high definition on the same day they are released in standard DVD format.

``Mission: Impossible III,'' ``Click,'' and ``Superman Returns'' are among the new release movies that are being released in the two high-definition formats Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

As of last week, there were 80 movie titles available in both HD-DVD and in Blu-Ray, with both formats expected to have more than 100 titles available by the end of the year.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD began quietly rolling out library titles such as ``Apollo 13,'' ``Batman Begins,'' ``Training Day,'' ``Terminator 3,'' ``The Last Samurai'' and ``Hitch'' earlier this year. But it is only now that the formats are taking their places on the new release shelves.

``It's always better to have more choices, and I know it's better technology, but I'm not sure exactly what's what yet,'' said Frank Christ, a 48-year-old Sherman Oaks resident who was out DVD shopping on a recent weekday. ``I have no idea what this Blu-ray is or the other one. I'm an old guy! I feel out of touch all of a sudden. You gotta buy a player and a digital TV. That will be three to five years away for me. I'm not really cutting edge.''

While the major studios were initially split into either Blu-ray or HD-DVD camps, most have since hedged their bets and are committed to releasing movie titles in both formats this year. There is still debate over whether the two formats can co-exist or whether one must prevail in order for consumers, other than early adopters, to embrace the new technology.

The industry is eager to release plenty of packaged entertainment so people who just bought new high-definition capable plasma or LCD television sets won't start looking elsewhere -- downloading for example -- for product.

``The industry is in a state of transition from standard-definition to high-definition in all types of applications,'' said Amy Jo Fisher, executive director of the Digital Entertainment Group, an industry trade association. ``When you think that 30 million American homes are going to have a high-definition TV next year, they are going to be looking for different forms of content to enjoy on that unit. They'll get it from broadcast but also from packaged media.''

Most reviews on the two formats state that the picture and sound quality is about equal with the main difference being that Blu-Ray can hold up to 60 percent more data than its rival.

Toshiba began shipping HD-DVD players to stores in April while Samsung began its shipments of Blu-ray players at the end of June. Both are capable of playing standard DVDs, so people will not have to start over in building their collections. But the two formats are not compatible with each other at this point.

Right now, the set-top Blu-ray players are retailing for just under $1,000, about double the cost of the HD-DVD players. But the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) video game system, set to be out Nov. 17, includes a built-in Blu-ray player with a price tag starting at $500.

Hardware and software in both formats is available at such major retailers as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.com.

Fisher believes that consumers will adapt to the high-definition DVD players at a faster rate than regular DVD players sold during their first year on the market in 1997.

``There were 305,000 players sold in that first year and we are predicting we will outsell that and demonstrate an earlier adoption curve,'' she said.

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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