I've had the good fortune over the past month to test-drive nearly every Blu-ray and HD-DVD disc currently available on about half of the players currently available. (If you've missed any of the basic info on these next-gen disc formats, check out Chris's overview of both technologies here.)

There's so much hearsay about each of the formats that I wanted to offer my own hands-on impressions—I've had so much to say that I have split this write-up into three parts (see the links below for access to the rest).

While I've had countless hours of pleasurable high-definition movie watching over these past four weeks, I've also come to the conclusion that neither Blu-ray or HD-DVD are ready for prime time—as is the case with many new technologies—and in many cases, viewers with anything but the latest equipment will be seriously screwed and disappointed. But let's take a closer looks and see what's good and bad about these next-gen formats.

Equipment used: For HD-DVDs, I used the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive connected to the A/V receiver via component video and optical cables, as well as a Toshiba HD-XA1 connected via HDMI. For Blu-ray, I used the PlayStation 3 connected via HDMI and the Panasonic DMP BD-10 connected via HDMI. (Visit these earlier posts on the Blu-ray features of the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive.) I currently still have all players connected to the Pioneer VSX-82TXS A/V receiver with HDMI pass-through with the Canton 220 5.1 speaker/subwoofer setup and the Pioneer PRO-FHD1 1080p 50-inch plasma connected to the A/V receiver with one HDMI cable. (See my post on the ultimate home theater setup.) I also conducted some other tests using a KEF Instant Theatre KIT200 home-theater-in-a-box system and a Mitsubishi WD-65731 52-inch 1080p DLP TV (with HDMI connections for video to the TV and optical cable to the home-theater system for sound). Lastly, I tried disc-watching on two next-gen-disc-enabled laptops, the Sony AR Series (for Blu-ray) and the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600 (for HD-DVD).

Picture quality: The honest truth is I could make out no real difference in the excellent HD-quality picture on either HD-DVD or Blu-ray in most cases. The only difference I noticed was between 1080i and 1080p—I could sit about seven or eight feet from a 50-inch plasma with the 1080p and still not see any lines (unlike with 1080i). But since most people won't be sitting that close to a TV, it's not a big deal. All the Blu-ray discs I played were output in 1080p. HD-DVD will output in 1080p but not with any of the players I tested (you'll need the not-yet-shipped Toshiba HD-XA2 for that).

Of course, picture quality is only as good as the film transfer to digital (in some cases, the film is shot in HD digital, which makes for better HD). So, for example, the Blu-ray version The House of Flying Daggers has downright crappy colors and clarity (at times), but both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray versions MI:III looked amazing from start to finish.

Now, you should know that the current generation of Blu-ray and HD-DVD players (with the exception of the PlayStation 3) are not capable of something called Deep Color, which is a greater color-depth standard that's achievable using the soon-to-launch HDMI 1.3 standard. Currently, no TVs or A/V receivers can handle Deep Color or HDMI 1.3, so this is an early-adopter issue mostly, but it might be worth holding off until more home-theater equipment is updated for the new standards.

Related links:

Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: The Hands-on Experience, Part 2

Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: The Hands-on Experience, Part 3