I don` think there`s anything necessarily wrong with someone like Hunt picking a side. I do detect sincerity in his desire for a single format, and I don`t subscribe to the accusations that he is being paid to promote a pro Blu-ray stance. That said, his failure as a journalist - and he has never been a great one -is his lack of objectivity, the best example of which I suppose would be his inability to highlight Blu-ray`s flaws as well as its strengths, chiefly its hardware which is hindered by multiple profiles shifting the specification of players leaving the consumer none the wiser in regards to what they are getting.

The odds remain in Blu-ray`s favour however. The manufacuting support behind the format is immense, it is at an advantage in software sales and - perhaps most importantly of all - some retailers are beginning to show signs of favouring the format over HD DVD. These are realistic advantages. The latter is quite crucial in my opinion as I`ve long been of the opinion that the only ones who can steer us toward a single format future will be the retailers. Now none of this is to say Blu-ray will win of course, but it should as even after the Paramount defection the format still has so much momentum in its favour, globally, not just domestically in the US. This doesn`t mean the format is assured of success however, in fact if anything it needs to firmly make significant advances in the marketplace over its competitor in the forth quarter. Losing the winter season to HD DVD, or even entering the new year in a similar stalemate scenario to which we find the formats in right now, would be very embarrassing for the Blu side and there`s every chance it could happen.

I quite like Josh Zyber`s take on some of the ins and outs of the format feud. He`s right to look at things objectively, although I do think he makes mistakes in comparing sales of HD media to those of present day DVD sales. He does this quite often, but I fail to understand what it is meant to tell us. Compare HD media sales to DVD sales of ten years ago, and the picture is a little more interesting, and indeed relevant. Blu-ray is actually hitting a lot of the disc shipment and sales milestones in its first eighteen months as DVD did over a similar time period in 1997/98.

I do agree with Hunt on one key point, mind you, and that`s how the existence of two formats have senselessly divided home theatre enthusiasts to an almost disturbing degree. Although I never posted at AVS, I used to read it frequently, but these days I find it unbearable. The “us and them” mentality is completely bizarre, and unfortunately it`s being fuelled by a handful of whatever remaining industry insiders they have left over there.