Freelance technology writer and reviewer John Archer reports on the hottest products and issues to catch his eye this week...

With the future of the HD disc already under threat from a debilitating format war and the potential popularity of downloadable films, you'd think the HD disc fraternity would be going out of their way to woo as many electronics brands as possible to their respective causes.
But actually, the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps seem so obsessed with ripping each other's throats out that they're in danger of leaving their friends to rot.

In an earlier blog (see: A tale of two Sonys) I talked about how the affordability and upgradability of the PlayStation 3 console made it arguably the only Blu-ray player worth buying. And this week the same sort of 'one man band' problem seems in danger of afflicting HD DVD, too.

Kicking off this train of thought are Toshiba's latest two HD DVD players: the EP30 and EP35, which I've been looking at this week as part of my reviewing duties for What Video & High Definition TV magazine. (Tech.co.uk has already taken a look at the EP35).

Of the two, the EP35 is a particularly well-specified beast, with 1080p/24fps support, HDMI 1.3 output with Deep Colour functionality, 7.1 bitstream audio support via HDMI, and 5.1-channel analogue line outs for piping out various audio formats, including the ultra high quality Dolby True HD. Yet it costs just £350.

It's almost unbelievable that such a clearly premium player in a relatively new, high-end home entertainment market should already be so cheap. Yay.
But the fact is that the EP35's low price could well cost us punters in other ways, most notably in a lack of HD player choice.

The cynics and Blu-ray fanboys amongst you are probably already thinking that the phrase 'HD DVD Choice' is a classic contradiction in terms. The only people doing HD DVD players appear to be Toshiba.

However, not one but two new HD DVD player brands have launched products this month from Ventura and Onkyo.

Yet because Toshiba has allowed the prices of even its step-up EP35 HD DVD player to plummet far lower than anyone would have anticipated even as recently as six months ago, the Venturer SHD7001 (always designed as a budget option) has had to offer an extremely basic spec in order to stay priced below the Toshibas. And for Onkyo, the situation seems even worse.

I contacted Onkyo recently with a view to reviewing their player, the £699 DV-HD805. But after a bit of a delay they basically got back to me to say that they were no longer actively pushing the player as they felt they'd been left too high and dry on price to be able to compete.
The problem is, Onkyo started working on the DV-HD805 - which is based around Toshiba's now aging XE1 player - in the good faith belief that Toshiba would still have a player in the marketplace that was in the same sort of price ballpark. So stepping up to the Onkyo's extra qualities, especially in the audio department, wouldn't seem like too much of a stretch for the videophile/audiophile market.

But the unexpectedly dramatic price erosion in the rest of the HD DVD market means that you're now looking at finding double the money for the Onkyo over the Toshiba - a hike Onkyo just doesn't feel confident many people will be able to justify.

Yet Onkyo can't just dramatically drop the HD805's price because it developed the product all the way along with a specific price in mind that would give them a workable return for their licensing and R&D outlay.

Onkyo is thinking about coming back in a bit with a cheaper model, but if the HD format war continues to hit rock-bottom prices like it is now, any new product could end up in precisely the same boat as the HD805. That is, as a product that's had the pricing rug pulled from under it before it can even launch.
In other words, in classic 'format war' style, the bitter rivalry of the HD disc battle is in very real danger of leaving both chief protagonists with absolutely sweet FA in the shape of a market that's dead on its feet.

After all, if a lack of confidence in the market from other potentially supportive brands means we end up with just two manufacturers left in the game, Toshiba for HD DVD and Sony for Blu-ray, the whole HD disc market place could become so marginalized that people frankly just forget about it, and look at other HD options instead.

All of this just goes to prove, of course, one thing you already knew already. That the whole idea of having another format war over something as important as the first high definition disc format is as stupidly self-destructive for both sides as it is annoying for us punters.

Making matters even worse for the opposing HD disc sides is the now very imminent arrival of new dual-format players from LG and Samsung. Provided these are decent performers, multi-format players will surely almost immediately establish themselves as the only HD players worth buying.

Which would mean, of course, that Toshiba, Sony and anyone else forced by stubbornness and/or industry politics to support just one format will be left even more out in the hardware sales cold than they are already.

And if that's not the very definition of irony, I don't know what is.

* What do you think? Agree or disagree with John? Email us today and have your two cents at editor@techradar.com.