The Shot That Ended The Format War
I wrote a three part series on the Format War when I first started writing for Connected Internet, describing what the two formats were about, and what I thought were hits and misses by both sides. My ending verdict was for HD DVD, and I still feel that it has more to offer than the competing format, Blu Ray.
However, all that became irrelevant as of this afternoon, when Warner Bros. announced that they would only be supporting the Blu Ray format after May 2008.
Today’s announcement comes as a bit of a surprise as the largest consumer electronics tradeshow, CES, begins on Monday January 7 in Las Vegas. Warner Bros. is scheduled for the two hour HD DVD Promotional Group’s conference on Sunday January 6. In addition, HD DVD stand-alone players outnumber Blu Ray stand-alone players, and while Blu Ray software sales have led during 2007 because of all the Playstation 3’s out there, HD DVD has held approximately 40% of HD optical software sales, which is a big enough number to justify the battle playing out a while longer.
Well, speculation can stop now, Warner Bros. has effectively ended the Format War.
Warner Bros. accounts for approximately 20% of all home video sales, and is the one company that neither side could afford to lose. Speculation has run rampant the last few months regarding a move to exclusivity, to one side or the other, but Warner had as recently as the last week made statements to quell such rumors. Such is business, they made their move today.
What does this mean for HD DVD? The end, quite simply. Universal and Paramount are the only exclusive studios. Paramount’s support of HD DVD was purchased essentially, and they are locked into HD DVD exclusivity until February 2009. Universal has always been the cornerstone of HD DVD as far as studio support, but my guess is that they will see the business sense of publishing on Blu Ray come this time next year.
So all of you who have been on the fence about HD optical can get off now: go buy a Blu Ray player.
For those of you who, like me, have started libraries of HD DVD titles, they still rock and I am keeping mine. I’ll be waiting a bit and then looking for a Blu Ray player after the Blu Ray specification has solidified a bit more and prices have come down. As long as you purchase a player that is Profile 1.1 you will be able to enjoy the interactive extra features that Blu Ray has begun to offer.
R.I.P. HD DVD. No new technology ever won because it was better, only because it was smaller, cheaper or more convenient. In this case, the outcome was decided for you by big business. In the end Warner is making the right decision to back one side, any side, and get people to start buying HD optical players and software. Perhaps this will speed up adoption, and perhaps the Format War was bad for HD.
Not much consolation for those who adopted HD DVD, but in the end it’s the movies that really matter, not the hardware we use to play them.
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Comment by James on 25 April 2008:
Blu Ray revolutionary technology, but I prefer to watch movies in HD and DVD quality.