OK, I'll be the first, and this will just be an observation. Is it just me or is everyone going out of their way to hold BluRay's hand to the victory stand? I continuously read about all the features and capabilities that Blu-Ray players DON'T have, but "hopefully...if we ask real nice...they'll grace us with all these features....one day". In the mean time HD-DVD has cheap, quality, high performance players on the market. I don't own, either format. Like many I have been waiting for a victor that I (also like many) have assumed would be Blu-Ray. I'm getting real close to pulling the trigger on HD-DVD.

I didn't write this piece to favor one format over the other, but to educate. I think that interactivity is a moving target on Blu-ray right now, and want to make sure our readers don't end up surprised when they can't access some of the cool features that are coming to Blu-ray.

I think right now it's asking too much of most consumers to know and understand these differences and that a lot of people buying expensive standalone players will be more than a little peeved when they find out they can't access the latest features.

As far as interactive features on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, I could care less. I just want to watch the movie. I used to buy special edition DVD's with all the extras...never watched any of the extras. Now that I have the Toshiba HD-XA2 (awesome machine by the way) and the Pioneer BPD-HD94 on order I have the best of both worlds. Now if they would just release discs with just the movies on them I bet they would make a lot of people happy. So as far as I am concerned the extra features mean nothing to me. I just want a great picture with great sound and the machines to play them on, hopefully for a few years anyways.

Peter- I agree that picture and sound quality is paramount, but as mentioned in the piece, the interactive features to me are far more compelling. I think of the way I was able to pour of the production details of Children of Men as a great example, and can think of a number of movies I'd love to watch with the streaming blue screen feature from 300 (a movie I did not like on the other hand).

A few years ago marketing research presented by one of the big companies showed that buyers were far more likely to buy a DVD that was loaded with extra features for the perceived value, even though the same research showed that these same consumers almost never actually watched the special features!

So I really don't know whether this enhanced interactivity will affect consumers one way or the other. But I still want our readers to make the most informed purchasing decision possible.

And that is why I come here to your site...to be informed and you guys do a wonderful job of it.

Shane, didn't mean to sound like I was picking on you. I include myself in those that were giving Blu-ray a pass, because on paper it should be the winner. I guess I'm just cranky because I really want to see HD movies on my 60" Sony SXRD and I want this stinkin' "war" to be over. :-)

Richard- didn't feel picked on at all. I think even now an honest assessment would be that Blu-ray has a commanding position with more studio and hardware support. But HD DVD is hanging around and BD has enough issues that it's still interesting.

Personally, I'm with Peter above. I own players for each format and am not particularly perturbed by that.

the extras on aeon flux were better than the movie

Shane- Thank you for your insights into Blu-ray. I wanted to make a comment about your review of the Pioneer BDP-94HD player; The ethernet connection on the back of the player can be used to stream music, movies and pic's from a pc.

I have to agree with Peter. I am not sold on these interactive features. I don't watch them on my current library of DVD's or subscribe to the notion that I'll buy a disk because I want the interactive feature and not the movie. I'm going to have a home theater not an arcade. All these spec's, profiles, standards, and storage capacity requirements are such moving targets that I have decided an HD-DVD player will be the first player to grace my home theater. At this point Blu-ray has lost me as a potential consumer. They can bounce around their profiles until they find solid footing, at which time I may entertain adding a Blu-ray player to my theater.

Russell- from the review: "it can access and display a variety of media over a home network, functions I didn't test for this review."

This does seem a little at odds with the previous sentence that says "The player has an Ethernet port for simplified firmware updates."

But I knew what I meant. Ha!

It does both these things, but never BD-Live.

Steve- I hope I was clear in th piece- the existing players will play the movie portions of these discs, the portions you cherish above all others. Although if past experience is any indicator they might load slow.

Shane, thanks for the great piece. However, I did find one item questionable -- from multiple sources, the upcoming Samsung UP-5000 will be 1.1 compliant. In fact, its release date has been delayed, likely to accommodate this. On the other hand, I think it is flat-out an embarassment that companies like Sony and Pioneer are releasing $1k-1.3k players right before the deadline that don't meet Final Profile. Unbelievable. LG is releasing a $1k dual-format player with not just Final profile, but 2.0. What the hell is wrong with the bigger CE companies? In any case, a year and half ago, I was a huge Blu-Ray supporter, given its "technical superiority". Since then, they have done nothing but repeatedly screw up and it has left a sour taste in my mouth. I will be buying the Samsung 5000 DF player, as long as it is Final Profile and operates reliably. As far as the bonus features, I may not watch them very often, but when I do, I certainly better be able to. My two cents.

Tyler - I asked LG about the profile, and they said that it didn't have the 1Gb necessary for 2.0, so I think it will be 1.1 only. Of course, I can't find our Cedia Show Report on line to see if Shane had confirmed that either, so I could be wrong (but like Monk - I don't think so) PS - sixth try on the word challenge!

Tyler- What does Final Profile mean when there's already one after it?

Seriously, on the Samsung, in the piece I covered my A with this: the answer I got back was no for these players. If this is completely accurate, this is obviously a strike against these players."

Samsung once gave me erroneous information before on these players so there is a grain on the info for the new player.

Again on the LG, their press release specifically claims compatibility with BD-Live features which sure sounds like Profile 2.

And I think your two cents is similar to a lot of people's.

Shane, you were clear in the piece. If both Blu-ray and HD-DVD continue in the market then I will end up with a player for both formats. It just seems Blu-ray has yet to sort out this profile issue. I can wait. HD-DVD will satisfy my HD needs until then. Looking forward to your review of the AVM-50.

Shane, Here is question that I can't get a straight answer on... I have a Sanyo PLV-Z5 projector. It has a native rate of WXGA 1280 x 720, but it is compatible up to 1080i. Would I benefit from a HD-DVD player (since I think it would have to convert down??)or is a good upconverting DVD player the best I can do? Also is better to upconvert to 720p (the native rate) or 1080i? I think many folks are struggling with being able to take advantage of HD-DVD, so if anyone can comment it would be appreciated.