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and die-hard movie buffs really cared about that in the first place. The average consumer bought their DVDs because of convenience. DVDs were small, they didn't need rewinding back, and by 2005 the players and the DVDs themselves were cheap. Blu-Ray and HD DVD producers now have to convince the public they need even better video and audio quality even though these were minor factors in the average consumer's conversion from VHS to DVD. So in effect, the Blu-Ray and HD DVD makers have to convince us to spend more money on the same things we already have the ability to skip to any part of a disc, additional features like making-of documentaries and blooper reels, easy storage and ease-of-use. It has to be asked does the average consumer who wants to watch a good movie on a Friday night really care that Blu-Ray discs have five times as much storage space than the average DVD? Does the average consumer care that high-definition DVDs improve upon normal DVD flaws such as edge-enhancement and artefacts? There's a simple answer to all this no.

The war that will rage on three fronts between normal DVDs, and the two high-definition formats Blu-Ray and HD DVD, recalls a similar war between video formats in the 1980s. Back then, home video was delivered on either Sony's Betamax or JVC's VHS video tapes (Betamax was originally released in 1975, VHS was released in 1976). By the late 1980s the winner was clear JVC's VHS. There are many theories why VHS beat Betamax but even though we now live in a digital age where perfection is a commodity, today as it was then, convenience wins the day. VHS was a better fit for home video because it allowed users to record on three hours worth of video tape while Betamax could only provide sixty minutes not long enough for a movie. VHS players were simpler to use and by the time VHS became the format of choice for movie rental outlets, Betamax was finished. Yet, Betamax offered better sound and video quality but this couldn't entice the consumer market on a mass scale. Likewise, DVD eventually conquered VHS, not because it offered a better picture or sound quality, but because of convenience. It will be a long time until Blu-Ray or HD DVD are the convenient product of choice over the trusty standard DVD.

In any case, Blu-Ray and HD DVD have to fight amongst themselves for a while, with Blu-Ray taking an early lead even with HD DVD hitting the market first. The hard facts about both formats is that they contain more space than standard

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