Blu-ray Wins The War
After winning many of the Format War’s battles, it was pretty obvious that Blu-ray would win the war eventually. It was merely a matter of time, when would Toshiba give up? A few days ago they finally did. Having seen major movie studios rally behind Blu-ray, and then huge retail shops, the decision was inevitable. Prices of HD-DVD players and discs have been cut dramatically but without the desired effect of gaining more market share. The consumer can at last upgrade to the next generation DVD players and movies without having to worry about whether the hardware they bought will really be viable in the next few years.
Microsoft, which produces the XBOX 360, sent out a press release indicating that they will cease production of new XBOX 360 HD-DVD players. They will continue supporting hardware that consumers have bought, however. Microsoft was one of the biggest backers of the now defunct format.
You could call Sony’s victory a sweet revenge. Remember the video format war in the late 80’s between VHS and BETAMAX? The latter format was backed by Sony and many consider it to be the more advanced one of the two. VHS of JVC eventually won the war. Sony must be feeling pretty good right now.
I don’t usually cheer the death of a product or a technology but I’m glad to see the demise of HD DVD.
After years of contentious battle between two competing high-definition DVD standards, Toshiba, the primary backer of HD DVD, conceded defeat last week. HD DVD is dead. Long live Blu-ray.
It’s not as if Toshiba had much choice. HD DVD was already in a coma. Warner Bros. Studios - the largest purveyor of DVD movies - put a big nail in HD DVD’s coffin in January when it announced it would no longer produce movies in that format but standardize on Blu-ray. That left only Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios in the HD DVD camp. The vast majority of new high-definition movies would come out only in Blu-ray.
