The first formally presented awards for high-def discs appear to be just as dysfunctional as the young war between the genre’s rival formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Not surprisingly, the fantastic 300 – the biggest-selling title to be available in both formats – won as the high-def title of the year at the first High-Def Awards, presented as part of High-Def 2.0, a one-day conference presented by Home Media Magazine earlier this week in Los Angeles. The catch is that just the Blu-ray version of the film received that honor, even though the HD DVD edition has a major advantage over its rival-format edition: a picture-in-picture option showing how the entire film looked before its extensive computer-generated effects were added to every scene. If the judges (DVD journalists and bloggers) had to honor only version, why not the format with a slight advantage, the HD DVD? To continue the confusion, the HD DVD of 300 was honored as having the best bonus feature for that picture-in-picture supplement. Shrug. No wonder consumers are confused by this format war. Even those in the industry can’t pick sides.

Here are the other winners from the awards, chosen from all high-def discs released since their debut last year:

• Best live-action Blu-ray: Casino Royale.
• Best live-action HD DVD: Hot Fuzz.
• Best animated: Ratatouille (Blu-ray).
• Best picture quality: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Blu-ray).
• Best audio quality: Transformers (HD DVD).
• Most innovative use of new technology: HD DVD U-Shop feature (Internet purchase ability), Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
• Best long-form music video: Dave Mathews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall (Blu-ray).
• Best catalog: Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut (Blu-ray).
• Best multidisc set: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Blu-ray). 

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 10:37 am and is filed under DVDs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.