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Originally posted by Mark_H:
All the published evidence so far suggests that they are doing ok and still going in the right direction.
Mark, I want HD to succeed. I genuinely do. I watch far less "broadcast" TV than DVDs of my choice, so having a player is more important to me than whatever SKY or anyone else is churning out.

My contention though, is that by definition, you will only see positive reports of the formats' progress. The people writing reports/articles/reviews/press releases are as follows: the hardware manufacturers/licencers who need to make profit, the PR agencies who support them, the broadcasters who need to increase subscription revenues and market share, the magazines who need exciting new copy (and therefore profit) and the enthusiasts/reviewers, who genuinely want it to work for performance reasons. So who's left out? The public, who will make or break the optical disc formats (I think they will make broadcast a reality).

There is a phenomenon, unknown to obsessives such as ourselves, which is "good enough". Yes, most people who wander past an in-store HD display (and in the UK, the big supermarkets, Tesco and Asda, are making sure Joe Sixpack gets it between the eyes) will say "Very nice...yes, it looks much clearer and sharper". Does that translate into sales though? Nope. M'lud, I submit that the vast majority of the populace can discern the difference, yet will remain perfectly happy with what they have already got with DVD. Why? Because ultimate picture/sound quality is just not important enough in the day to day lives of 99.9% of the population to bother about.

I've said it before and will reiterate...even if every last enthusiast, on every forum, and every journalist, and every HD player factory worker and every retailer bought into this, it will still die on it's a*se if the general public stay out.

Right, I've banged on enough.

Cheers

George

PS And just to recap, I would love to buy a new player with loads of great titles!