Blu-ray is losing the opinion war. So says Cymfony, a company that measures market influence. Its newest report, "A Blue Christmas for Blu-ray," claims that HD DVD has more positive buzz than Blu-ray, but not for the reasons you might imagine. Cymfony looked at 17,664 posts from 323 blogs and discussion boards over the last two months. The majority of posts came from two groups, videophiles and gamers, and were evenly divided between the two technologies. Cymfony found 46 percent more "positive discussions" about HD DVD than about Blu-ray, and also found that few people are talking about Blu-ray's twin advantages of higher storage capacity and increased interaction. Surprisingly, though, the bad buzz has nothing to do with common arguments about the high cost of the format and the lack of a unified standard for high-definition video. The most common complaint (26 percent) about Blu-ray was a "general dislike" for the format, based (so says Cymfony) on two things: a long history of failed Sony formats (think MiniDisc, Beta, ATRAC) and a perceived arrogance on the part of the company. Second on the list was Sony's decision to bundle a Blu-ray player with the PlayStation 3 (21 percent). Many gamers resent being forced to pay a higher cost for a product they might not want. "Format wars" was third, with only 16 percent of the complaints. While most of the report focuses on Blu-ray, a closer look at the numbers shows that most enthusiasts have still failed to make up their minds about the new technologies. 53.1 percent of posts on Blu-ray expressed a neutral opinion toward the format, as did 52.8 percent of those on HD DVD. Although HD DVD has more positive buzz, it's still a close fight. Title availability will also help to determine the winner, but both Blu-ray and HD DVD have a roughly equal number of releases availables. We at Ars don't think there will be a clear winner for at least another year, as our readers?who are bastions of bleeding edge early adoption?are generally cold on the matter. on another note.. THE CHINESE are releasing a third DVD standard to compete with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. China?s electronic makers have released a range of players made with the new format, called Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD), as part of a bid to promote a Chinese alternative to foreign technology. EVD first appeared in 2003, but was dropped two years ago after there was a fight about licensing fees. However Chinese electronics makers have revived the format and are saying they plan to switch completely to EVD by 2008 and stop producing DVD players. The move will shut the competing second-generation formats from the Chinese markets and will also *kill off DVD by 2008.* we'll see.. k
