Upside: Entry-level players are much more affordable than Blu-ray units; tighter specification means that all players have a more consistent feature set; some movies include standard-DVD version on the same disc.

Downside: Studio support limited to just Universal and Paramount, which means no HD DVD movies from Columbia, MGM, Fox, Disney, or Warner (after May 2008); Xbox 360 requires an add-on accessory to play HD DVD discs.

Outlook: With the support of only two major studios, the HD DVD format is all but extinct unless it makes some major moves in the near future.

Warner changed everything
At the end of 2007, the format war felt as if it was at a stalemate. HD DVD was still strong, having gained the exclusive support of Paramount earlier in the year and having sold Studio and selling thousands of HD DVD players for as little as $99 at Wal-Mart. Blu-ray, meanwhile continued to lead in software sales and had the support of many more hardware manufacturers.

That leaves only Universal and Paramount as the studios currently supporting HD DVD. Put another way, as of May roughly 70 percent of Hollywood studios will exclusively support Blu-ray. The bottom line is that people are buying HD disc players to watch movies, and if HD DVD can't get more studio support, we can't imagine it staying around for long.

The hardware
HD DVD beat its archrival to the marketplace by a couple of months and a few hundred dollars, and continues to offer significantly less-expensive standalone players than does Blu-ray. Toshiba currently offers three third-generation players--the HD-A3 ($150), the HD-A30 ($200), and the HD-A35 ($300)--whose list prices have been slashed, presumably in response to the Warner announcement. Toshiba is also still selling its second-generation flagship model, the HD-XA2, which offers top-notch video quality, thanks to HQV video processing. For complete reviews of current players, check out our list of Editors' top Blu-ray and HD DVD players.

In addition to price, HD DVD also bests Blu-ray by having a tighter specification. While Blu-ray buyers have had to struggle with confusing Blu-ray hardware profiles, HD DVD players have stuck to a single specification requiring every player to include secondary audio and video decoders, 128MB of local storage, and an Ethernet jack. This means buyers can get even an entry-level HD DVD player and not have to worry whether it can handle special features, such as picture-in-picture commentary or downloadable content.

With lower prices and a tighter specification, HD DVD does have an edge in terms of hardware. Unfortunately, even the most robust hardware needs movies to play, and we don't think the hardware advantage will be enough to keep HD DVD afloat in the long run.

The movies
There are three versions of HD DVDs: single- or dual-layer HD DVD-only discs; twin-format discs (with a standard dual-layer 8.5GB DVD on one side and a 30GB dual-layer HD DVD on the other); and hybrid discs (a single-sided disc with a standard 4.7GB layer that plays on any DVD player as well as a 15GB HD layer). The advantage of the hybrid and dual-format discs is that you get backward compatibility of a sort: watch the movie in high-def on your HD DVD player in the living room, but use the DVD version in your bedroom or portable player. Suggested retail prices are $28.99 for catalog titles (movies already available on regular DVD), $34.99 for new titles (films coming to any home-video format for the first time), and $39.99 for hybrid/twin-format discs, which will work on HD DVD and regular DVD players, as described above; however, online pricing seems to have settled into a more affordable $20-to-$28 range. Video quality of both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs varies with the film itself, but titles available on both formats generally have identical video quality.

The gaming wild card
While the Xbox 360 is capable of 720p and 1080i high-def output--it can display games and downloadable video clips in full HD--it's limited by its internal DVD drive. That's why Microsoft has released an external HD DVD drive. That $180 accessory add-on drive will enable HD DVD movie playback, although 360 games will continue to be released on DVD-ROM discs to ensure compatibility for all systems.