According to the recent research performed by Home Media Magazine, the movies on Blu-ray disks were selling twice as good in the first half of this as the movies on optical  HD DVD media, Reuters reports.

They claim that from January 1 through July 1, 2007 they sold about 1.6 million Blu-ray disks in the US only, using a Sony Corp-backed technology. HD DVD disks sales volumes over the same period of time reached only 795 thousand copies. HD-DVD was developed by Toshiba Corp and backed by Microsoft Corp and film studios such as Warner Bros.

Both formats were launched in spring of 2006. An estimated 3.7 million high-definition discs have been sold, including 2.2 million in Blu-ray and 1.5 million in HD-DVD through the end of July, according to Home Media.

At the same time the sales of Blu-ray disks are picking up outside the United States, too, namely in Singapore, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. The demand for new-generation consumer DVD players is growing as well. However, HD DVD devices seem to be selling better. The thing is that the best value HD DVD player from Toshiba is currently available for about $300, while the most affordable Blu-ray solutions are offered for $500-$600.

The industry-wide standards war is reminiscent of the VHS and Betamax battle.

Blockbuster Inc, the largest U.S. provider of home movie entertainment, in June set out plans to line its shelves with Blu-ray DVDs, saying Blu-ray rentals were "significantly outpacing" HD-DVD rentals.