While no one who has watched a movie via Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will dispute their superiority over standard DVD, history reminds us that the Edsel was better than the Ford. And Betamax was a step beyond VHS.

But while the battle over the next-generation home video format is simmering to a boil in the U.S., the prevailing mood from Hollywood North is a mix of preparation without commitment.

An online survey conducted last summer by research firm Ipsos asked 1,063 adults from across the U.S. how they anticipated watching movies in 2007. Nearly one-quarter of those polled planned to watch DVDs they own, while just 6% to 7% said they would increase movie-watching on their PCs or portable devices.

Canada is in the upper tier of countries in broadband Internet penetration. At 67.9% as of Dec. 19, 2006, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, we're only slightly behind the U.S., and number 12 in the world - and if you hurry, you can trade your tube TV in at Future Shop for $100 towards an HD model. But many consumers haven't heard of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, let alone understand the difference between them, or why they should care, when DVDs are ubiquitous and cheaper than a latte.

"From a marketing angle, more work needs to be done to reach the general public to explain what HD and Blu-Ray are all about before you're going to see it take over DVD," says Ian Goggins, SVP of sales and operations at Maple Pictures, which is shipping an average of 1,000 Blu-Ray units per title to retailers, apart from above-average Lionsgate titles like Crash and the Jason Statham actioner Crank.

"DVD isn't going away," he adds. "We're committed to supporting that format. But you don't want to be caught behind either."

Besides Sony, which developed the technology, Blu-Ray has the support of every major Hollywood studio except Universal, which backs HD-DVD. Toshiba's disc got out of the gate in the fall of 2006 and is supported by Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console. But although HD-DVD has released more than 100 titles and several players, the Blu-Ray Disc Association - a consortium with 170 member companies - made some landmark announcements at CES.

In addition to a slate of 300 titles set for release in 2007 - from Casino Royale to both Pirates of the Caribbean movies - the BDA claims 6.2 million Blu-Ray-capable devices will be in homes in 2007, as opposed to 2.5 million for HD-DVD. Blu-Ray also has the advantage of being integrated into Sony's Playstation 3 gaming system. These are impressive numbers given that they project there will be 55 million HDTV households by year-end. In comparison, by the end of DVD's rookie year there were only 1.9 million players sold.

Warner Bros., which has the most extensive library of titles of any major, will debut a "Total HD" disc in the second half of 2007 capable of playing either format, adding to the "combo" disc it rolled out recently with both HD-DVD and DVD capabilities. More than anything, this signifies the commitment from Hollywood to a drawn-out format war.