We’ve been talking for over a year now about the “war” between HD DVD and Blu-ray and who would come out of this the clear winner. Each side has had their ups and downs over the last several months, but both have remained pretty equal in terms of popularity and support. Things are about to change though after Warner Brothers made an announcement that they are leaving HD DVD behind and going exclusively with Blu-ray. Up until this announcement, Warner Brothers was one of those companies that supported both. They’re calling it a “long-term strategic decision,” a decision that could be a huge blow to Toshiba’s HD DVD camp. Analysts are already predicting that this move could be the final blow that could cause HD DVD to die.
Toshiba was obviously taken back by this announcement because after it was made, they completely changed their plans to appear at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show which is currently going on in Las Vegas. “Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, the HD DVD Promotional Group has decided to cancel 1:1 press meetings at CES, in addition to the press conference that was scheduled for Sunday evening. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause… We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps.” The saddest part of the whole thing? People at CES are receiving HD DVD Sponsored backpacks. They paid some hefty money to advertise and now they’re not even going to be at the conference.
Is there hope left for HD DVD? I’m starting to think that Blu-ray just might manage to come out of this a winner…
Source: Gizmodo
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Tags: Hardware, Blu Ray, HD DVD
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Blu-ray ftw! This is awesome news. Now all we (Blu-ray-ers) need is Paramount/Dreamworks and Universal to switch over and the only people left to support HD-DVD would be Microsoft and Toshiba. No movie studio support = dead format. Long live Blu-ray!
I have never compared these formats but just judging from the way their names sound, I want HD DVD to win. C’mon guys, Blu-ray doesn’t even sound half as awesome as HD DVD!
I see this as a kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. The fact that so many news reports are saying, “this could be the end of HD-DVD” will cause more consumers to choose Blue-ray. Ultimately, it’s the consumers who will decide which format will win.
Regular Joe Consumer doesn’t know any better which one is best for him. So it looks like Warner Bros have chosen it for the rest of us.
It is looking that Blu-Ray will win out. It doesn’t hurt that the PS3 has a Blu-Ray drive that has been reviewed by Home Theater magazines as one of the best players for blu-ray. That with the fact that it is a game machine and is cheaper than a stand alone player.
The PS3 has a game out now, Time Crisis 4, that has me wanting a PS3. They also have a game in my favorite genre, the hack n’ slash Action RPG genre.
Personally, I still feel that the price of Blu-Ray, and HD DVD for that matter, cost too much more than regular DVD’s for the modest quality gain. The menus are a lot better and reachable without stopping the movie though.
Still the war has to end and the cost has to come down for me to buy the higher definition discs. Besides, I will need a new receiver with HDMI, and my HDTV is only 1080i, so that needs upgrading as well.
I have studied both formats and felt that Blu-Ray was the superior product. Hopefully this will wind up being the best result…unlike the VHS vs Betamax result.
Oh man, I was pulling for HD DVD.
Can one of them just win already?
what about the their format HD VMD (High Definition-Versatile Multilayer Disc), hopefully this format will out win HD DVD and Blu Ray….
How do we get one of those Thoshiba HD DVD backpacks?
It’s over for HD DVD. Paramount has pulled out and many hardware and content producers are looking to exit the market.
The battle is over. HD DVD lost.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index......p;Itemid=2
Not yet.
It looks like that may be sooner than later… keep your eye out for an article posting tomorrow that’s about this very topic.
You’re right and at this point, I think that’s all consumers want… a clear winner.
I agree on the price — a regular DVD still works great for me and so spending the extra money on HD content just doesn’t seem worth it. It’s a personal preference.
That’s exactly what thousands of other people are saying at this point! It’s about time we have a winner, don’t you think?
Didn’t whatever studio made the Transformers movie choose exclusively HD DVD?
Yes, Transformers is exclusive to HD DVD:
http://cybernetnews.com/2007/0.....f-himself/
So, if the Transformers studio is all HD DVD. How come this studio going all bluRay means to many that the war is over?
I think it’s mostly because there has been speculation that Paramount and Universal are also looking to switch over to Blu-Ray. Both companies have been careful in their wording, but from what I gather Sony is offering big money to get them all to switch over.