Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Blu-ray wins the war

I suspect most people had figured Blu-ray was going to win.
It is now official. Blu-ray is the VHS of today and tomorrow!

We just purchased our first HD tv this past month ...
But were waiting before deciding which new DVD player to get.

News article from Tokyo: Toshiba quits HD DVD business

"Toshiba said Tuesday it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders, handing a victory to rival Blu-ray disc technology in the format battle for next-generation video. The move would make Blu-ray — backed by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, and five major Hollywood movie studios — the winner in the battle over high-definition DVD formatting that began several years ago."

Contributing factors:

"Nishida said last month's decision by Warner Bros. Entertainment to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable. Warner joined Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox in that move."

"Friday's decision by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware appeared to deal a final blow to the Toshiba format. Just five days earlier, Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in HD DVD. Several major American retailers had already made similar decisions, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc."

HD DVD supporters included Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp.

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