Toshiba Postpones the HD-DVD Players

What are HD-DVD's advantages over Blu-Ray? Not many, except for the compatibility of the HD-DVD players with current DVDs and the fact that the manufacturing of the HD-DVD discs doesn't require significant changes of the production lines.

But aside from those, the Blu-Ray format offers larger capacities, improved security, not to mention that it has more supporters. Given the circumstances, the decision taken by Toshiba to delay the launching of the HD-DVD players is at least strange and can be interpreted as a defeat in the battle of formats.

At IFA 2005, both sides presented equipments incorporating the new standards, which means that any time, we can expect one of the two formats to enter mass production.

By changing the launch schedule, Toshiba is giving up on an important advantage. Why? Is the company hoping that it has enough time before Play Station 3 is launched? Are we in for a surprise once the new Xbox 360 is launched and Toshiba doesn't want to mess up the sales? Is the HD-DVD format acknowledging the defeat? It remains to be seen!