Good article at audioholics (an update to an article last year).

http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/10-more-reasons-hd-dvd-failed

Keep in mind that currently, the only use of HDMI1.3, Dolby HD, & DTS Master Audio is HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

Yes there is also the extended colors, but there isn't any content.

A sad state for the industry.

That's a great question, Ken.  HD-DVD and Blu-Ray couldn't have deployed at a weirder time in the home entertainment industry.  DVD is well established and extremely popular with consumers - and we all know that 'good enough' is just fine, and DVD is still 'good enough.' 

I think that both HD DVD and Blu-Ray are just stop-gaps for on demand streaming HD content, which you KNOW all the content providers are just chomping at the bit for.

I'm a notorious early adopter of gadgets and goodies, and I'm not touching this format war.  I can't be alone!  

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Word.

For some reason, when these two came out I could not help but think of the VHS - Beta wars.  For that reason, I have stayed out of buying anything until things resolve or a clear winner is declared. 

Both formats are doing better then DVD was at similar point in its lifecycle.  I think the future is dual-format players.  LG already has one on the market and Samsung has one coming out in October.  This format war is going to end with a whimper, not a bang.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Disc_Sales/Warner/300_Breaks_Blu-ray,_HD_DVD_Sales_Records/844
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/High-Def_Disc_Sales/Industry_Trends/Blu-ray,_HD_DVD_Overtake_VHS_in_Sales/845

I was in Magnolia Home Theatre (the little boutique inside a few of the newer Best Buy stores) yesterday looking at new receivers (Elite and Yamaha, respectively) and couldn't help but get drawn in to watching the Blu-Ray version of Planet Earth. The picture was incredible. Of course this was probably helped by the fact that it was displayed on the top of the line Elite monitor receiving signal from and Elite BD player.

Honestly, if I were rolling in dough I would adopted right then and there. But I'm not. And the reality is, most people aren't, and even fewer are that concerned with high-definition. Afterall, when you've experienced VHS tapes for most of your life, DVD is high-definition.

This could change in the near future though, as prices come down, more dual-format players are released, or (don't hold your breath) the 2 sides come to an agreement and we finally have one. Too bad we're likely to see a completely different technology before that happens....