Just as Blu-ray thought it had finally won the format wars by defeating HD-DVD, it now finds itself battling two new enemies - digital downloads and up-converting DVD players. While consumers grew tired of waiting to see whether Blu-ray or HD-DVD would win the war to become the high-definition standard in video formats, a funny thing happened - up-converting DVD player sales began to rise. These little players offered consumers picture quality that resembled high-definition quality closely enough to suit their needs, and at a fraction of the cost of high-definition players and discs. Although Blu-ray won out over HD-DVD, many consumers are disappointed that Blu-ray disc prices and player prices have not fallen since the upset. In some cases, prices have risen, as some companies believe there is no longer any reason for them to offer discounted prices on their products, because there is no longer any other competitor for consumers to choose over them. That's where they have it wrong.

For most consumers, up-converting DVD players offer more than enough quality for their needs. They can't justify spending several hundred dollars for a new piece of equipment, let alone high disc prices for new movies, and the added costs of purchasing movies which they already own again, just to have them in a new format. The difference in quality may be significant enough for some to shell out the extra money, but for most the need isn't there. If you already own a fairly large collection of DVDs, it becomes an important point to consider. If you can't afford to replace your current collection with new Blu-ray titles, you'll end up watching up-converted versions of the movies you already own on your new Blu-ray player, in which case there really isn't much incentive to make the switch.

Aside from up-converting DVD players causing problems for Blu-ray, there's another challenger ready to step up to the plate. Digital downloads are becoming more popular, and consumers are finding the convenience of being able to download movies directly into their homes too good to pass up. Gone are the days when the only way you could watch a downloaded film or television show was on your computer screen. Several companies now have easy-to-use set-top boxes that allow users to download content, or stream content, to the box, and play that content back right on their widescreen televisions. Whether you choose the Apple TV, TiVo with Amazon Unbox, VUDU, or the new Netflix Player from Roku, your favorite movies and television shows are now only a few clicks of the remote away. The best part is that most of the new set-top boxes don't even require a PC in order to use them. They do, however, require a good broadband connection, which most users already have, and others are adopting at increased rates. Even PC download sites like Movielink, Vongo, and CinemaNow are benefitting from the shift to digital downloading, since newer PCs are built with all of the connections needed to easily hook them up to current model televisions. Again, that means you no longer have to watch your downloaded film on a computer screen. You get to see it on your television, in comfort.

Currently, much of the content available for downloading is not high-definition, but that is changing, and the current content looks pretty good when viewed on a standard or high-definition television. Apple already has several HD titles available for download for the Apple TV, and other companies plan to offer HD content soon as well. Consumers no longer have to drive to the video store to rent movies, and purchasing movies and television shows allows you the added benefit of being able to play them back on your laptop, or a number of other portable devices, for viewing while away from home, at your own convenience.