Regular updates about the rising battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray can be found at
http://www.thedigitalbits.com
HD-DVD has announced that they will have 60-70 titles out by the end of the year. Some impressive ones Matrix trilogy, Harry Potter, etc. Blu-ray is expected to release their initial catalog by early 2006. Both use blue laser technology and will be backwards compatible with DVD (thank goodness). A single layer of HD DVD can hold roughly 15GB of info (compared to 4.7GB for standard DVD), while Blu-ray can hold 25GB per layer. Blu ray has stated they have the technology to support 8(!) layered discs. Expect Blu ray to be more expensive than HD DVD because their lines must be changed dramatically for the switch. HD DVD should be cheaper but because of the smaller capacity will they look as good as Blu-ray? Fox is the only remaining major studio to not back either format. They have a pretty large catalog, so whichever they support might have the early advantage. As of now, the split from studios is about 50/50. Players that will play both formats will be available eventually, but probably not for awhile. Do expect a big battle with the consumers losing in the short run.
Sorry just some odds and ends off the top of my head.
