Adult films and the battle for high-def
A hundred years ago, you had to be a well-heeled gentleman at an upscale house of ill repute to see naughty films. Nowadays, of course, adult viewers can watch in the leisurely setting of their own homes--and it doesn't require any special equipment other than whatever they'd use to see Pirates of the Caribbean or Finding Nemo.
Indeed, everyone from the talent to the producers to the equipment makers interviewed as part of CNET's ongoing coverage of the race between HD DVD and Blu-ray agrees that the viewing public (anyone with a media player) will be the ultimate decider whether HD DVD or Blu-ray will become ubiquitous in the U.S. and worldwide.
CNET TV's series of videos outlines the adult film industry's influence on these technologies.
In the U.S. alone, pornography is a $12 billion industry, with a sizeable--and spendy--constituency. But for some reason, as one producer laments, "No one will embrace our industry."
According to CNET's interviews, big studios like Disney routinely require their DVD manufacturers to sign a contract that essentially forbids them from working with porn studios. Since many of these adult studios are privately held, very small operations, the industry remains flexible and nimble enough to work around these challenges.
