July, the month of catalog titles continues for both formats. This week, HD DVD continues to make up loss ground on Blu-ray with four new titles to Blu-ray's nada. This is the first in some time that Blu-ray hasn't even bothered to release even one catalog title, they are making it even easier for HD DVD to catch up. Looking ahead, July pretty much keeps up this theme, as we all wait for 300 to come at the end of the month.

HD DVD 245 vs Blu-ray 260.

Blu-ray

• Zilch

HD DVD

• Billy Madison (Universal)
• Dante's Peak (Universal)
• The War (Universal)
• The Wedding Date (Universal)

HD DVD gets Blood Diamond this week and with web enabled content, so if you haven't already, go download the latest firmware update. It was released on Blu-ray last month sans the new interactive content. The rest of the titles are solid catalog titles, as most titles this month are. While the total keeps rising for both formats, we can't help but wonder why each week there are so many more DVDs released than both formats combined.

HD DVD 241 vs Blu-ray 260.

Blu-ray

• Flatliners (Sony)
• The Patriot (Extended Cut) (Sony)
• The Untouchables (Paramount)
• The Warriors: Ultimate Director's Cut (Paramount)

HD DVD

• Blood Diamond (Warner)
• The Untouchables (Paramount)
• The Warriors: Ultimate Director's Cut (Paramount)

With the second half of 2007 right around the corner, Warner has come out and confessed that its Total HD discs won't be delivered this year -- contrary to what was promised during CES 2007. While a new release date isn't given, they are shooting for early 2008. There also isn't a mention of the reason for the delay, but we suspect that sandwiching these two formats on one disc turned out to be more difficult than they bargained for; or maybe they want to wait and see if a winner emerges this holiday season. In the meantime, Warner promises to keep releasing titles on both formats, and believes that "There is no expiration date on the viability of this concept."

[Via High-Def Digest]

For anyone who thought Universal was going to switch sides, think again, because they have 11 of the 14 titles for HD DVD this week. Blu-ray only has two this week, and to add insult to injury they are not exclusive. So while the Blu-ray camp basically mailed it in this week, HD DVD has closed the gap to within 20 -- we're not sure how we feel about counting re-issued titles, but for now they count. But there are lots of quality catalog titles, and not many new releases. We don't know about anyone else, but the next big title to us -- for either format -- is 300, due at the end of July.

HD DVD 237 vs Blu-ray 257.

Blu-ray

• Black Snake Moan (Paramount)
• Hustle & Flow (Paramount)

HD DVD

• American Me (Universal)
• Army of Darkness (Re-issue) (Universal)
• Being John Malkovich (Universal)
• The Big Lebowski (Universal)
• Black Snake Moan (Paramount)
• Bulletproof (Universal)
• Dead Silence (Universal)
• Freedom: 1 (Bandai Visual)
• Hustle & Flow (Paramount)
• Mallrats (Universal)
• Meet Joe Black (Universal)
• Mystery Men (Universal)
• Unleashed (Re-issue) (Universal)
• The Watcher (Universal)

Wow, talk about a slow week. One movie between the two formats, but it isn't just HD formats that are in a drought, new releases for DVDs are pretty much non-existent this week as well. The one and only title this week is from Disney and part of the same series that brought us the Chronicles of Narnia. The Bridge to Terabithia actually has a better IMDB rating than chronicles at 7.5, uses AVC and includes a lossless PCM surround track, all on a BD50 disc. Don't worry HD DVD fans, you only have to wait one more week before one of the biggest weeks in the format's history when 17 new titles come out next Tuesday.

HD DVD 223 vs Blu-ray 255.

Blu-ray

• Bridge to Terabithia (Buena Vista)

HD DVD

• Nada

Are the tides turning? First HD DVD's version of Planet Earth outsells Blu-ray, then HD DVD players sales are way up, and now Universal releases a nice slew of catalog titles to help HD DVD make up some ground in the race to have the most titles available. But wait, Blu-ray isn't going down without a fight, and although they don't have as many titles this week, they do have a big title: Ghost Rider -- never mind it's painfully low IMDB score of 5.5, it is a day-and-date release. But a bad Nic Cage movie isn't going to be enough, as Universal delivers not only the most titles, but also the biggest, with Breach (IMDB 7.7). In case you forgot, we went back and recounted the totals last week, so sans any changes in the past week, this total should include every title available up until June 12th, 2007.

HD DVD 223 vs Blu-ray 254.

Blu-ray

• Blood & Chocolate (Sony)
• Cruel Intentions (Sony)
• Daddy's Little Girls (Lionsgate)
• Ghost Rider (Sony)
• Music and Lyrics (Warner)
• Primeval (Buena Vista)
• Seven Years in Tibet (Sony)

HD DVD

• Black Christmas (2006) (Weinstein)
• Born on the Fourth of July (Universal)
• Breach (Universal)
• Bruce Almighty (Universal)
• Daylight (Universal)
• Harsh Times (Weinstein)
• Liar Liar (Universal)
• Living Landscapes: The World's Most Beautiful Places (HD Environments)
• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (Universal)
• Music and Lyrics (Warner)
• Sneakers (Universal)

The recent sale on HD DVD players is going great for Toshiba; by keeping the price of a HD DVD players almost half of the cheapest standalone Blu-ray player they have continued to win the player race. Sure the PS3 is out there, -- with much higher quantities-- but the movie attach rate for a PS3 is nowhere near a regular player. With players sales up, and movie sales up, whats stopping HD DVD from taking this thing all the way? That's right, the PS3, as the BDA expected, people are buying them as Blu-ray players and gamers are buying movies. So where does this all end? We sure couldn't tell you, but in the meantime, we're enjoying the show.

Another week of catalog titles, don't get us wrong we like classic movies as much as the next, but there is nothing like new releases to drive us to buying. One title that is kinda new is Blood Diamond, at least to Blu-ray. What is interesting about this title is the fact that the Blu-ray version is coming out before the HD DVD, usually Warner does things the other way around. Two titles this week that are classics are two of the best Eddie Murphy movies ever; Trading Places and Coming to America. HD DVD starts off slow this month, but watch out, because they have a bunch (29) of titles coming in the next few weeks, and most of them are HD DVD exclusives.

HD DVD 207 vs Blu-ray 243.
Updated totals, after recounting from the beginning.
HD DVD 212 vs Blu-ray 247.

Blu-ray

• Blood Diamond (Warner)
• Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band: Live in Dublin (Sony Music)
• Coming to America (Paramount)
• The Cowboys (Warner)
• Hellboy (Sony)
• The Messengers (Sony)
• Norbit (Paramount)
• Rescue Me: The Complete Third Season (Sony)
• Rio Bravo (Warner)
• Trading Places (Paramount)

HD DVD

• Coming to America (Paramount)
• The Cowboys (Warner)
• Norbit (DreamWorks)
• Rio Bravo (Warner)
• Trading Places (Paramount)

After last week's spectacular releases, we knew we could only be disappointed this week, but we did expect the studios to at least try. Sure it could be worse, there could be no titles at all, but instead we have a bunch of catalog titles. Universal is again pulling the load for HD DVD this week with five solid classics including Midnight Run and The River. Sony has a couple of titles, including one music title that still doesn't feel right when we add it to the total. Lionsgate also has the first season of the Showtime show; Weeds, as well as the popular catalog title Basic Instinct. We don't even want to pretend to choose a best pick this week, as we look forward on the calendar to more exciting titles, eventually.

HD DVD 202 vs Blu-ray 233.

Blu-ray

• Basic Instinct (Lionsgate)
• Chris Botti Live with Orchestra and Special Guests (Sony Music)
• Curse of the Golden Flower (Sony)
• Weeds: Season One (Lionsgate)

HD DVD

• Dragonheart (Universal)
• The Frighteners: Director's Cut (Universal)
• Lost in Translation (Universal)
• Midnight Run (Universal)
• The River (Universal)

The key to success of any new technology in this country is to drive the price down so much that it becomes affordable for everyone to own, and while Blu-ray still has a long way to go to hit that level, it looks like they might be on their way. Recently in a financial report from Funai, -- a Chinese manufacturer who brings us value products like Sylvania, Emerson, and Magnavox -- they announced plans to launch a Blu-ray player. While the details were left out for the most part, we'd expect to see them within the next year. Either way we will have to wait and see if these show up next to Fuh Yuan's HD DVD players at a Wal-Mart near you.

In what is almost definitely the best week ever for both formats, we see both of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies from Disney on Blu-ray and both Matrix box sets for HD DVD. While the Matrix movies will be available on Blu-ray whenever they get their act together, there is less hope for HD DVD fans to get to enjoy Disney's offerings. The other thing that makes this week different is that for the first time Hi-Def Digest preferred the picture quality said the Blu-ray title was sharper than the HD DVD, on the title; Flags of our Fathers. No matter which side you prefer, there is something for everyone this week.

HD DVD 197 vs Blu-ray 229.

Blu-ray

• Apocalypto (Buena Vista)
• Closer (Sony)
• Flags of Our Fathers (DreamWorks)
• Freedom Writers (Paramount)
• Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner)
• M:I-2 (Paramount)
• Mission: Impossible (Paramount)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Buena Vista)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Buena Vista)

HD DVD

• The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Universal)
• The Complete Matrix Trilogy (Warner)
• Flags of Our Fathers (DreamWorks)
• Freedom Writers (Paramount)
• Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner)
• M:I-2 (Paramount)
• Mission: Impossible (Paramount)
• The Skeleton Key (Universal)
• Smokey and the Bandit (Universal)
• The Ultimate Matrix Collection (Warner)

While Blu-ray and/or HD DVD might be the biggest news here an Engadget HD, the same can't be said for the world of home automation and high-end home theater installers. CE Pro has an interesting article about the reasons why this is the case, but were not sure if we buy it. We have talked with a few high end home theater installers in our area and there seems to be two reasons why those who are willing spend 100k on a home theater are not interested. The main reason is because these high end shops, don't always carry the same brands as the big box stores -- for business reasons -- and these brands like Denon, Marantz, and Onkyo don't make players (yet) for either format. Lets face it, many of these people have more money than sense and they buy what the shop is selling. Why would a shop sell a brand they normally don't carry? The other reason is that many of these high-end customers want movie jukebox systems like those from Kaleidescape and as we all know, neither format has yet to deliver on the manage copy promise. Either way, it seems like a pretty big waste to watch upconverted DVDs on a 100k home theater, when you could be enjoying true 1080p with master quality audio.

In a week that can only be described as the calm before the storm, Warner has a few solid catalog titles for both camps, as well as the best offering this week in The Fountain. Also as expected, HD DVD titles get a DD+ audio track while the Blu-ray fans are still stuck with plain ol' DD. If audio quality is your thing, than Sony has Stomp the Yard, which happens to be in the IMDB bottom 250 of all time. The movie might not be that great, but it does include both a PCM 48kHz/16-Bit/4.6mbps) and Dolby TrueHD (48kHz/16-bit) sound track. The storm gets started next week with a total of 20 titles between the two formats, and big names such as Pirates, Apocalypto and Matrix, to name a few.

HD DVD 187 vs Blu-ray 220.

Blu-ray

• Battle of the Bulge (Warner)
• The Fountain (Warner)
• The Road Warrior (Warner)
• Stomp the Yard (Sony)

HD DVD

• Battle of the Bulge (Warner)
• The Fountain (Warner)
• The Road Warrior (Warner)

Here we go again with the rumors, which is exactly what this is -- and again a rumor that requires translation, but we couldn't pass this one buy. Universal has been HD DVD's ace in the hole and sure The Weinstein Company is also an HD DVD exclusive, but Universal is one of the most powerful names in Hollywood. So if Universal was to start selling Blu-ray movies, this would be a watershed moment in the format war timeline. As the rumor goes, Universal is sick of not selling as many next gen titles as Warner and may end their exclusive contract with HD DVD. This of course would mean that many of the biggest titles currently only available on HD DVD would be available on both formats, while we doubt this would mean the end of the format war it certainly couldn't be interpreted as good for the HD DVD camp.

Read -- Universal will angeblich exklusive Unterstützung der HD DVD aufgeben
Read -- Translation at AVSForum (Source)

May gets off to a slow start this week, but stayed tuned things are going to get interesting this month. The biggest title this week is Dreamgirls and available for both formats in a 2 disc set, but unlike other dual format releases these two don't share the same encode, but according to Hi-Def Digest, both Blu-ray's MPEG2 and HD DVD VC1 versions "look terrific either way". What isn't equal about these two versions is the audio, once again Paramount (distributor) shafts Blu-ray owners offering only 640Kbps DD 5.1, while HD DVD fans get a 1.5Mbps DD+ 5.1 audio track. Lionsgate is offering the only other Blu-ray movie this week with Happily N'Ever After and Universal has the remake of The Hitcher and Alpha Dog.

HD DVD 184 vs Blu-ray 212.

Blu-ray

• Dreamgirls (DreamWorks)
• Happily N'Ever After (Lionsgate Entetainment)

HD DVD

• Alpha Dog (Universal)
• Dreamgirls (DreamWorks)
• The Hitcher (2007) (Universal)