I recently jumped head long into the high-definition DVD format mix when I picked up an HD-DVD drive addition to the X-Box 360. I ran into absolutely no hardware issues as the drive worked flawlessly, but my experience with actually purchasing content was a major source of frustration.

I was taken aback by retailer’s lack of support for cutting-edge technology that is likely to be purchased by those most into home theater, and thus, those more inclined to purchase more gear and higher-end items. More on that later.

Not Just Resolution
It’s easy to get caught up in the extra resolution HD offers, as it is a major selling point and a concept easily marketed to consumers as the single most important reason why to get HD sources and TVs, but HD sources also offer many more advances in picture quality.

With the more bandwidth for data, HD sources provide much more color information than standard definition. HD-DVDs such as Apollo 13 or Troy show much more vivid and smoother color reproduction that essentially looks flawless.

Compression is always an issue no matter the source, but with HD-DVD’s extra storage capacity, media compression artifacts like that which consumers have seen with standard-def DVD are a thing of the past. Once hard to produce and complicated imagery such and the sunset tower scene before the opening battle sequence in Troy now renders completely compression and noise free with such clarity that you can look around at the small stuff.

It’s not just the resolution, but also the clarity, flawless compression quality, and color reproduction that consistently impresses with HD-DVDs as well, but what about Blu-Ray

HD-DVD Over Blu-Ray
Formats wars suck, and it certainly appears that Blu-Ray has much more backing from more studios and supporting companies than HD-DVD. A quick look around for the movies available at DVDempire.com or Amazon.com will show you that many of the same movies are available on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, such as the most recent release of Superman Returns and the previous Superman movies.

The deciding factor for me this early on was Blu-Ray’s false start. It seems that Blu-Ray was rushed to market in order to not allow the HD-DVD format the huge advantage of existing in a market free of competition. Blu-Ray suffered from players that just don’t display correctly (according to online user reviews and magazines alike), to movies that just didn’t look that much better than their standard definition DVD counterparts. Add in that Blu-Ray players cost about twice as much HD-DVD players, and consumers are left with a format that has major issues and is cost prohibitive.

That said, Blu-Ray’s issues will be resolved simply due to the fact that if they don’t fix the issues the formats dead, and I’m not going to be a beta tester for them by purchasing expensive equipment that kind of works. I want to enjoy effortless high quality, and the HD-DVD format offers that right now. I think the format war may play out for a long time and I have accepted the fact that in the future I may simply just own both. For now HD-DVD is the way to go.

There are a few movies that are exclusive to each format, and for many people those certain “must have” movies will be the deciding factor as to which format to go with.

I was willing to spend up to $500 on a player, but many of the online consumer reviews were loaded with issues such as slow load times and slow chapter skipping. The X-Box 360 I’ve had for a year presented the best opportunity to get into the HD-DVD format with the availability of a $199 HD-DVD drive addition.

X-Box 360 HD DVD Drive
The $199 dollar HD-DVD drive for the X-Box 360 was the most affordable way to get into the HD-DVD format, and perhaps the best way. Since the HD-DVD relies on the massive processing power of the X-Box 360, the slow load and track-skipping times are practically non-existent. Everything interacts with expected speedy and smoothness.

The HD-DVD drive addition connects through the X-Box which currently only supports a component video connection. While some detractors will bemoan non-HDMI connectivity, the simple truth is you do not need HDMI to get great video quality with HD. Component video is fine and when it’s determined by Microsoft that an HDMI connection is needed they will simply release an HDMI cable for the 360.

Getting the Digital Surround Sound upgrades does require HDMI, but so few movies and receivers will take advantage of this feature that it’s a non-issue for most people right now.

Connecting the HD-DVD drive is an uneventful experience… which is a great thing. You install the software update to the 360, plug in the HD-DVD drive’s power, connect the drive to the 360’s USB port on the back, start the whole thing up, and put in a movie and enjoy. All new components should work this effortlessly.

At $199 the HD-DVD drive comes in 60% cheaper than the cheapest HD-DVD player, and with the November Circuit City coupon I used it was $40 cheaper than that.  Thus making the cost of the HD-DVD drive little more than the most expensive upscaling DVD player.

Retail Disc Buying Issues (Brick and Motor Issues)
When the DVD format came out back in 1996, all the major retailers were vying to be the “go to” location for the DVD purchases. Each new release to the format was prominently displayed with plenty of copies available. In contrast, purchasing HD movies is more akin to what it was like buying DVD-Audio / SACD discs. Availability is downplayed in the retail stores, with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs tucked away in some obscure location.

Circuit City was the most disappointing as they had a Blu-Ray rack, but no HD-DVD rack. This struck me as odd to sell HD-DVD players, but not the software. It seems they’re squarely in the Blu-Ray camp, and don’t want the $200-$300 I’m sure to spend on HD-DVDs over the next six months.

Best Buy was definitely better than Circuit City as both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies were placed conveniently next to each other under a “Next Generation DVD” section. It wasn’t too hard to find, but the selection just blended in with all the standard-definition DVDs around it. Best Buy also has the greatest selection of HD movies as well.

Target had the most prominent display of both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies with a separate rack treatment located in the movie section with about 16 movies in each format available, some of them duplicates. Target had the best prices at $19.99 for each movie.

All the retail outlets failed miserably when it came to new releases. When Superman Returns came it was advertised in Target and Best Buy advertisements as “available in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD”. On the day of release I high tailed it to Target, which only had two Blu-Ray versions and no HD-DVD versions. Best Buy had no copies in either format, but the salesperson said it was available at BestBuy.com. Of course, Circuit City of course doesn’t stock HD-DVDs.

Retailers are missing out on an amazing marketing opportunity to be the place for home theater enthusiasts to go for the latest and greatest HD movie releases. The Superman Returns release was also accompanied with HD releases of all the Superman movies on HD-DVD and Blu Ray. Talk about a missed opportunity for a halo effect.

In one night of HD-DVD hunting, Amazon.com and DVDempire.com became my “go to” locations for purchasing HD movies. I usually prefer brick-and-motor because I buy movies one or two at a time. Now I’ll just buy multiples at a time to offset shipping costs. For others, a rental place may be fine, but our household is a heavy “rewatch” house so we’ll generally watch our movies many times.

Hybrid DVD Buying
Is that to say I’ll stop buying or watching DVDs? Not a chance. If a new movie that I want comes out, HD-DVD will now be my preferred choice, but if it’s only available on DVD I’ll still pick it up. I’ll replace certain favorites like Troy and Apollo 13 as they come out or when I get around to it. DVD still looks great on my 65 HD CRT RPTV, but when I go projector in 2-3 years as my TV reaches end-of-life, the resolution of standard-definition DVD will become limiting on a 10 foot screen. By that time the HD formats should have enough movies to choose from and be cheaper to boot by then.

Resolution To Spare
That’s one great thing about HD. It’s got resolution and picture quality to spare and looks great even on large screens 60 inches on up. You can choose to sit closer to a big screen or opt to go with a super big screen via projector with little concern of seeing the lines of resolution. Granted you will see more flaws the larger you go with any source, HD movies on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (with a capable player) simply look spectacular on super-big screens.

Case in point, I had the opportunity to preview Panasonic’s 103-inch Plasma driven by their $1200 Blu-Ray player running a sampler disc. Even at that size, the picture quality was flawless and clean. The opportunity also allowed me to see a Blu-Ray player actually performing well. If only the player wasn’t $1299.

For TVs Smaller Than 55 Inches
On smaller TVs the extra resolution will likely be wasted, but you will see a clearer, more detailed picture, with more vibrant colors. The higher price tag and limited movie selection may well be a hard sell for smaller TVs.

Are the HD Movie Formats DOA?
At this early stage there still is a possibility that both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray could fail to gain any traction. Especially when the current DVD format can look so good on HDTVs. You likely won’t see an outright replacement of DVD by HD movies, but rather a parallel existence for those interested (both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray). It’s clear that right now the retailers aren’t interested. Format wars suck.