Consumers choose Blu-Ray over HD-DVD

A new survey has revealed that when it comes to next-generation disc formats, consumers are currently favouring Sony's preferred Blu-Ray system, which will be used in the PlayStation 3, over Toshiba's HD-DVD.

US polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates conducted the poll by presenting participants with a comparison of factors such as technology company support, film studio support, games console support, storage capacity, potential movie title availability and estimated launch dates.

Of the 1200 consumers who took part in the survey, 58 per cent said they favoured Blu-Ray, while 26 per cent were undecided and only 16 per cent cited HD-DVD as their format of choice.

Those who chose Blu-Ray gave reasons such as the potential to play the discs in a greater range of CE devices, PCs and games consoles, backwards compatibility with the current DVD format, greater disc capacity and the potential to store bigger amounts of both HD and standard definition media.

"While we are still in the pre-launch phase for both formats, Blu-Ray is the early front runner," said PSB's Mark Penn. "Consumers perceive Blu-Ray as the favourite on technology company support, gaming, storage and disc lifestyle."

Companies that have already lined up behind Sony to support the Blu-Ray format include Sharp, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips and Mitsubishi, along with PC hardware giants Dell and Hewlett Packard.

Commenting on the new survey, Maureen Weber, general manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions Business, said: "From day one, we've focused on delivering the best possible consumer experience while building support from the best brands in the world."

"The result is a format that delivers a consistent, compatible consumer experience across a range of platforms, which is clearly something that resonates with consumers."