Blu-ray, HD DVD Porn Slow to Build Steam

Widely credited with helping to fuel early adoption of both VHS and standard-def DVD, adult video distributors been surprisingly slow to embrace either of the next gen disc formats.

Although there was much speculation in the early months of the high-def format war that the adult video industry would be a major factor in determining which format would prevail, thus far there have been scant few porn releases on either format.

Longtime readers of this site will remember that earlier this year, there were indications that Blu-ray backers had sought to prevent the release of pornography on the format. The Blu-ray Disc Association ultimately denied those reports, and indeed by late April, Vivid Entertainment had debuted the first Blu-ray title with their cross-format release of 'Debbie Does Dallas... Again.' (The first adult title to hit HD DVD was Wicked Pictures' 'Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre,' back in December 2006.)

Today, DVD Empire lists sixteen adult titles on HD DVD, and only three on Blu-ray.

Industry observers point to several factors in the genre's slow high-def build, including the higher cost of next-gen disc production and an apparently growing belief among distributors that they'd be better served leap-frogging over the high-def disc formats altogether, and instead focus their efforts on next-gen IP-based delivery of high-def content.

But while the current selection of high-def porn titles may prove somewhat bleak, early adopters hoping for more needn't give up hope just yet. The last several months have seen a steady trickle of new high-def releases, with leading adult entertainment distributor announcing two titles in the last month alone -- one for HD DVD ('Stood Up') and one for Blu-ray ('Debbie Loves Dallas').

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