Have to agree w/you Gonk on this. The two consortiums and their respective formats were more concerned about beating each other up then providing a wonderful high fidelity format for music lovers. I feel so betrayed by these two groups - I hope they lose their shirts on their new fight with HD DVD and Blu-ray...Personally, I won't support either until this industry comes to it's senses and agrees on one format.

It's Beta VS VHS all over again. really when you think about it. didn't they learn from that ?

One format was superior over the other, and the lesser of the one survived. Crazy isn't it?

It's like a holy war with these guys!...killing each other to see the last man standing.
Personally I'm fine with SD DVD's. I care more for the music on music/concert DVD's and DVD-Audio/SACD's.
I enjoy the occasional movie on DVD, however I watch more movies and TV series on the HD Cable RX/PVR now. I've wondered if the "little silver disc" will be outdate in the future in favour of alternate delivery streams. Anyways I digress.
Summing up the format wars...the old adage...
"Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result"!

We might think about all this more clearly if we stop seeing "this industry" as an "it". In terms of how decisions are made, there is no "it". There are a bunch of different groups of people trying to survive economically in the only way they can think of - by competition for our money. If that means slamming what the other guy's offering, so be it.

I think 13.1 is something the studios will use for movie theaters. Comercially it makes perfect sense to have 13 independent channels. Just think of the possibilities in a room so large. I think you guys are right for the home though. 7 is plenty.

I think 13.1 is something the studios will use for movie theaters. Comercially it makes perfect sense to have 13 independent channels. Just think of the possibilities in a room so large. I think you guys are right for the home though. 7 is plenty.

This works for some economic models such as different manufacturers making their own amplifiers and speakers to compete for consumer dollars, but not for formats. Manufacturers and consumers only come out ahead when formats are standardized or at least compatible. History will attest to the success of the DVD because there was one standard and compatibility with all the software produced for it. Best to keep it simple and cheap for mass market consumption I believe.

The movie studio offers the best rationale for the extra channels, but there are issues that make it unlikely even there. In a theater, the mix must allow for similar sound experiences for each movie-goer, whether he's sitting in the front row or the back row. That means that the side speakers really need to all get the same signal. As a bit of evidence of this trend, all of the DD Plus tracks currently showing up on HD-DVD and Blu-ray have been 5.1, and the information I've seen indicates that this is because that's all sound editors want to mix to for theatrical release.