After a rather slow debut in the UK the second generation of High Definition DVD players have finally arrived. High definition DVD is clearly the future, delivering significantly higher resolution images than traditional SD (Standard definition) DVD. But buyers are still faced with a choice between two highly capable yet incompatible formats, Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Both are capable of delivering stunning results with little difference in image quality. Talks broke down between the two groups during efforts to find common ground on a unified format, leaving consumers to make the final decision of which format to support. The movie studios are also split and choosing the wrong format could leave owners with access to reduced content. This risk may persuade some to delay purchase until a clear winner starts to emerge or dual-format players become the norm.

The formats struggle for dominance is all too reminiscent of the Betamax and VHS format war of the 1980s. It's still too early to single out the likely winner, but HD-DVD got off to a good start (in terms of user satisfaction) with its first generation players, whilst Blu-ray is clearly ahead in the sales figures, boosted by the late arrival of the Sony Playstation 3. The Blu-ray format is supported by Sony, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, LG, Sharp, Panasonic, Samsung, Philips, Thomson/RCA, Apple, Dell, Benq, HP, Philips, and Pioneer.

HD-DVD is supported by Toshiba, LG, Sanyo, Thomson/RCA, Microsoft, Intel, HP and NEC.

As the new High Definition DVD Players slowly start to appear what factors should a potential buyer consider?

Price

Prices have started to fall this year as the market fills with new players. If you decide on the HD-DVD format the Toshiba HD E1 is a bargain. Still want a 1080P HD-DVD player? then wait for the newer Toshiba EP10 due for release any day now offering full 1080P playback. Blu-ray competitors in the budget player department are also due soon from Panasonic and Sony.

Format, Blu-ray or HD-DVD?

The jury's still out on which of the two competing formats will win the day. Both formats can deliver great pictures, but they are incompatible with each other. Our feeling is that other dual-format machines will become more popular and make format choice a non-issue.

Functionality

User friendliness should be one of the more important issues in deciding which machine to buy. A well designed operating system can make the difference between pleasure and pain. Slower operation than with standard DVD players, (such as disk load times), seems to have been an issue with some of these first players.

Quality

All these machines are going to deliver superb picture quality with only minor differences in performance. 1080p is the highest quality output from most players. However the 1920x1080p screens needed to get the best from this resolution are still quite expensive. Although very welcome, 1080p offers only a relatively small improvement in quality over 1080i on small to mid size screens, with most viewers seeing little difference.