CES 2008: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray and the battle of the CES booths

Las Vegas (NV) - Walking between the Blu-ray Disc booth and the HD DVD booth at this year’s CES is like walking between an amusement park and a decrepit morgue.

The Blu-ray booth vs. the HD DVD booth at CES 2008

Warner Bros almost singlehandedly brought the high-def format war to the forefront of CES this year, with its decision to move to Blu-ray exclusively announced right before the show began. It’s been a tough road for HD DVD these past several days, and that is easily seen directly from the show floor.

Amusingly, the two booths are right next to each other. That probably seemed brilliant on paper several months ago when the battle was raging between the formats and almost no one had called for victory on either side.

Now, however, it almost seems like HD DVD wishes its booth could disappear, because aside from being significantly less traveled than the Blu-ray booth, it is also much duller. The Blu-ray set-up has masterful construction work, life-size figurines, and a cozy viewing area for watching BD titles on a big screen. It’s really almost like something you’d see at Disneyland.

The HD DVD booth, on the other hand, is a predictable square design with its players and movies on display. When we stopped by a few times, there was also practically no one there. It’s never a good sign when the number of booth representatives consistently outweighs the number of interested attendees.