Which next-generation DVD format are you planning to buy asks a recent survey summarized by What Japan Thinks? It’s a vexed question, since this is the next generation and everyone is going to want to buy new TVs, players, and DVDs to get that “high definition” experience–aren’t they?

There is much confusion between the standards, Blu-ray vs HD DVD, with consumers delaying their purchases to avoid being stuck with another Betamax. The jury is still out and a bit has been written about this on Japundit with a lot elsewhere (like here, here, and here). What does the average Japanese consumer think?

Well, 8.2% have already bought into HD DVD and 4.7% Blu-ray — but 87.1% are still sitting on the fence. In fact, 63% haven’t decided yet which format they will buy. But 28% have already decided on Blu-ray and only 9% HD DVD.

While HD DVD was the early leader, it looks like Blu-ray will finally prove to be the winner–this is about what most of us anticipated. In fact, 28% of those surveyed think so too, compared to 9% who are still rooting for HD DVD. Still, 60% say they don’t know which format will preval.

The big criteria that will be used to inform upcoming purchases of high definition gadgets include price (70%), features (48%), title selection (40%), and hardware selection (35%). Title selection is probably more important than they think, since you will recall that Betamax died because there were no movie titles to play on it.

Right now the major studios are lining up on each side–mostly Blu-ray’s side and Blu-ray is a Sony project so guess what format most of the new movies are going to be in (exclusively in most cases)?