Xbox 360 vs. PS3. There's no question that the real battle in the HD home theater space will be decided predominately by these two gaming platforms. With the PS3 launch just a week away, very few movies available in either format and the sticker price of the stand-alone players in either format, it all boils down to this. Microsoft and Sony have known it for a few years now, which is why they've each bet the bank and called in “solids” from all their homies.

Personally, I think HD-DVD and Xbox 360 have the advantage, even though their HD-DVD drive was just released. While many in the industry gripe about the fact that Microsoft didn't embed the HD-DVD capability in their console, I think it was a wise move. The consoles were out on the market at an affordable price a year ahead of the competition, and the $200 price tag for an HD-DVD player is a steal compared to either format's stand-alone players.

There's finally some content out using the latest and greatest HD standard, but I certainly won't be running to the store to replace my 1080i HDTV anytime soon. If you're a video "geek" like myself or have just been following the evolution of HDTV, you know that the PS3, Blu-ray, and 2nd generation HD-DVD will support 1080p. If you haven't been following this evolution, after reading this (and the CNET article linked below) you'll be able to tell the sales guy at your local electronics store to go annoy someone else while you browse for your next HDTV.

Picture quality is determined by a multitude of factors and believe it or not resolution isn't necessarily the most important factor when we talk about 720p, 1080i or 1080p capable HDTVs. Sure, it ranks right up there, but contrast ratio, color saturation, and color accuracy do as well. For more detailed information on the HDTV standards and resolution, check out this excellent CNET article from David Katzmaier. The fact of the matter is that difference in picture quality between 1080i and 1080p will not be noticeable to the average viewer.