Paige Albiniak

RIP HD DVD
February 19, 2008

It’s been a long time coming, but the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD came to an abrupt end today when Tokyo-based Toshiba abruptly announced it was exiting the HD-DVD business.

                Of course, that was based on two other important events: Warner Bros. deciding last month to dump its long-standing relationship with Toshiba to side with Blu-Ray (click the link so that Ms. Finke can tell you about the $250 million promotional payoff that greased those skids) and Wal-Mart proclaiming last Friday that it too was joining Best Buy and Netflix in offering only Blu-Ray products.

                There’s a long history to this battle, and CNET has a good sum-up, which also includes detailed comparisons of both formats.

                While this is clearly a big loss for Toshiba, which says it will cease production of its HD DVD players and recorders immediately and exit the business by the end of March, it’s a big win for consumers who can now go ahead and invest in high-definition DVD players and recorders. One minor kvetch: HD DVD was the less expensive format, so while the market will benefit by finally having the matter settled, the pricier format ultimately won, which could slow overall adoption.

                It’s also a win for studios because they now can go full steam ahead in releasing their movie and TV DVDs in the Blu-Ray format. According to CNET, less than 350 movies are currently available in either format, illustrating how stifled the HD DVD market has been.

Posted by Paige Albiniak on February 19, 2008 | Comments (0)