An article from MSNBC reports that Warner Bros, the last studio to support both Sony's Blu-Ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD formats, has decided that starting in late May only the Blu-Ray format would be supported by them. This came as a major blow to Toshiba, who now only has support from 2 Hollywood studios: Paramount and Universal. Warner Bros. decision was based on "customer preference for Blu-Ray media".

On the heels of that article, another MSNBC article reported that due to the Warner Bros. decision, the North American HD-DVD Promotional Group cancelled a media event for Sunday. The NAHDDVDPG (mouthful huh?) included supporters such as Microsoft and Intel.

Should Sony now proclaim Victory?

Customer preference for Blu-Ray... well, if that means they've bought a PS3 and want to see all their old movies again...
But I'm not one of those - I still just buy plain old DVDs, and will continue to - I see no reason for me to upgrade... maybe they have a reason for me to upgrade, ie they want my money, but do I? er, no, so lets not buy either eh, and get the basic (and still good DVD)

I still say Microsoft cuts their losses and sells the ultimately preferable "HD DVD" name to Sony. Then in a year when not enough people are still buying hi-def movies, Sony's Blu-Ray division folds and moves all their files into the storage room with Betamax and Minidisc. Sony, when will you ever learn?

Microsoft is NOT the main force behind HD-DVD. HD-DVD is backed primarily by Toshiba and the DVD Forum, and the name is in fact owned by the DVD Forum. You didn't know?

Edit: Warner's defection was reported back two days ago, BTW.... >.>

If people don't embrace it, all they have to do is quit making plain DVDs....

Ah. I thought it was mainly Microsoft and then Toshiba. And yeah, this was reported eariler...

And do you think they would really stop making regular DVDs?

Eventually... but everyone knows that.

The question is when. Blu-Ray will not have the same uptake speed as DVD did, but I think it'll be higher than most people give it credit for. HDTV is on the rise, especially with the common misconception that digital TV=HDTV. Blu-Ray is the format for that.

Many people have been refrained from buying an HD format before the format battle(Calling it a war is silly...) was over. Given that the death sentence has been set for HD-DVD, many of those people will start buying Blu-Ray. I'm sure some will hold off until it's almost official.... Can't blame them for it, really.

In the end, it will all depend on HDTV's adoption rate, and how effectively Sony/other backers of Blu-Ray sell it.

Not for a long time. DVD took a while to dominate the market and eliminate VHS, and I think the general consumer had a much clearer idea of the benefit of moving from one format to the other in that battle. The benefits of Blu-ray over DVD require expensive video and audio set-ups that most consumers don't have to see, creating a reluctance in a lot of consumers to make the switch.

Eventually, as all TVs just become HD (cable switches over to HD in 2009, right?) and the tech becomes more affordable, the risk associated with switching will go down, and provided no new formats have jumped into the race to cloud the issue, Blu-ray will gain dominance. But not for awhile.

While Drewbie is right that they could theoretically eliminate the standard DVD format and force a switch, there's no one with deep enough pockets to pay each studio what they'd lose in standard DVD sales while waiting out the initial backlash and eventual build up of the Blu-ray format at this time. DVDs have another decade in them, minimum, before Blu-ray dominates the market place. Probably longer than that.



ETA: I would encourage anyone considering a Blu-ray player purchase that is not a PS3 in the near future to google "Blu-ray 1.1 player" and do some research into the upcoming players and what they'll be able to do as compared to most players on the market right now. Just because the battle's over doesn't mean it's time to plop down your cash just yet.

I definatley think elimination of DVDs would be stupid. But I've overestimated studios before...

You're thinking of the switchover to digital broadcasting from analog.

Thanks.

There's already signs that the first generation of BD-Players will be obsolete. Panasonic is showing off an "interactive" BD player at the 2008 CES this week. It can pull movies from the web and also allow interactive features with movies. It will also offer Picture-in-Picture. Most of this was available as a download update for the PS3 systems.

Of course, the HD-DVD players already did alot of this...