OK, maybe ‘ravages’ is a bit strong. ‘Mildly inconveniences’ is probably more like it. Variety has an article on the format war in Europe. Things are a bit different there than in the US. In the US, approximately 33% of households have an HDTV. Western Europe averages 6%, and the leading marking, the UK, is just 10%. So there has, understandably, been less drive to move to HD content.
Right now Blu-ray and HD DVD seem to be fairly evenly matched – which is damning with faint praise, since neither has been a major seller as of yet. Blu-ray has pulled ahead of HD DVD a few times, and it is starting to look like it is pulling ahead for good as more Blu-ray titles are introduced, and the PS3 increases its market penetration. But it is still too early to call, neither side has really hit a critical mass like Blu-ray has in the US.
