By now we are all well aware of the on-going high-definition format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and although both sides continue to pick up steam, there are still a ton of people out there who are either undecided or completely against investing in either one. I can certainly understand the frustration that a lot of people feel on this matter, however, if you’re a fan of movies, I’m guessing there must be at least some small part of you that is itching to make the jump to high-def.

Maybe you’re confused and unable to decide, or maybe you’re just apprehensive about getting stuck with obsolete technology. Maybe you don’t think you can afford it. We’ve all heard the arguments about why this format war is “screwing” the consumer, and why you shouldn’t waste your money. What we haven’t heard are many people speaking on behalf of the high-def experience, and why it’s actually worth the money in spite of a few annoyances. I don’t work for Universal or Sony, and my intention is not to give you a patronizing sales pitch. I just want to offer a different point of view since I’ve been pretty happy with my HD-DVD player so far, and there are definitely more and more reasons why it’s time to jump on the HD bandwagon. Consider the following:

1. Amazing Picture and Sound Quality

This goes without saying I suppose, although there are some people who claim that they don’t notice a difference between high-definition picture and standard DVDs. I beg to differ. Clearly the jump is not as significant as moving from VHS to DVD, and with older movies there is a limit to how much clean-up and restoration that is possible from the original source material. However, generally speaking, the clarity and crispness of the image will simply blow you away, especially for new movies that have been shot digitally.

The other issue is that if you have an HD-TV and you aren’t watching your movies in high-def, the flaws in the standard DVD compression are going to become more noticeable to you. Yes, that’s right, you might spend all this money on a new TV only to have standard DVDs look worse. As more and more people buy HD-TVs and everything moves towards high-def, including TV programming and video games, you can’t tell me you’d be satisfied watching your movies at home in an inferior format! That just doesn’t make sense.

2. New Interactive Features

When DVDs first came out, one of the brilliant selling points over VHS was the addition of special features such as behind the scenes videos, running audio commentary tracks and interactive games. Although some people never cared about this supplementary material (and others have since grown tired of it), I still find that they’re a big deal to me. Even a mediocre movie with great extras can make for a compelling watch. With HD-DVD and Blu-ray, there are some pretty cool new multimedia features that are now possible thanks to the increased storage capacity.

In particular, Universal has something called “U-Control” on their HD-DVD discs, which allows picture-in-picture featurettes and commentaries to play as you’re watching the movie, branching video, or the ability to save chapter stops and bookmarks for your favourite scenes on a disc. While some of these things are a bit gimmicky, there’s a lot of potential for added value in the new formats and I think we’ll be seeing more creative content in the near future.

3. Prices are Dropping Like Crazy

It’s true that some HD-DVD and Blu-ray titles are slightly more expensive than their standard DVD counterparts (in the case of the HD-DVD combo discs, they can be a lot more expensive), but you can find plenty of titles out there for $20 now.

It’s also true that the players are more expensive than a regular DVD player, but when you consider that HD-DVD only launched one year ago, it really has come down in price quite quickly. You can currently get an HD-DVD player for $300 (under $200 actually if you already have an Xbox 360) and a Blu-ray player for $500 ($400 if you go with the PS3). There are also a lot of amazing promotional deals now that give you a number of free discs with the purchase of a HD-DVD or Blu-ray player. The only additional cost is the requirement of an HD-compatible television if you don’t already own one. But soon you’ll have no choice, since Tube TVs have all but disappeared from store shelves!

4. Selection is Growing Fast

The initial release line-ups for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray were a little underwhelming, but over the past year studios have been steadily rolling out back catalog titles mixed in with new releases to make for a pretty versatile selection. As far as major blockbuster franchises, Blu-ray has the Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogies, and HD-DVD has The Matrix Collection and The Jason Bourne Collection. The Stanley Kubrick and Harry Potter collections are/will be available on both. Blu-ray has studio support from Anchor Bay and Fox, while HD-DVD has Paramount and Dreamworks. The bottom line is that with either format, you’re guaranteed to have some great movies to watch across a wide variety of genres, and every week a large chunk of the new releases are now coming out in both standard and high-definition versions.

5. Two Formats Can and Will Co-Exist

The biggest complaint I hear from people who are against HD-DVD and Blu-ray is that they don’t want to pick one format and have the other side win the war. The fact of the matter is, this so-called “war” probably isn’t going to end any time soon and it in some ways it’s misleading to think of it in those terms. Sure, VHS eventually killed Beta, but let’s look at the current video game market: there have been 3 separate camps for two generations now, and people have learned to accept this. It’s funny that people keep saying the situation is bad for consumers, when in general, competition is always good for consumers since it drives innovation and keeps prices down. What’s more, dual format players are on the way, with Samsung preparing to launch their first model in December.

6. You Don’t Have to Replace Your Entire DVD Collection

This last point may sound obvious, but I think it addresses a serious concern that a lot of people have. When HD-DVD and Blu-ray first launched, it rubbed many consumers the wrong way because they had just finished building their standard DVD collections, and now they felt like someone was trying to force them to buy the same movies all over again. Relax… no one is forcing you to do anything! Yes, the HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats exist to make money, but they also offer a genuine technological improvement. HD-DVD and Blu-ray will probably never completely replace DVD, and they don’t have to because the players are backwards compatible. I look at them as a way of augmenting your existing collection, not replacing it. I can watch my favourite movies and the big special effects flicks at home on HD-DVD, experiencing them at maximum quality, but I have no problem continuing to watch other movies on a standard definition DVD. As a movie fan, it gives me the opportunity to take selected viewing experiences a step further. To me, that’s worth paying for. Is it worth it for you? Hey, that’s your call, not mine!