This was announced last week. It has been quite interesting to track this story from the beginning.
Let me give you some background info on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. For the past few years companies have been looking at new technology that takes the DVD format to the next level. High-definition has been seen as the next level. Now High-def cannot be enojoyed on any television or monitor. You need a High-def capable device which means a nice plasma/lcd screen, the bigger the better. But not all tv's are high def capable. If you see HDMI input then that means it's high definition capable. Of course full capabilities of high-def come through only when you have a nice home theatre (read Bose lifestyle), a barca lounger (read Rosita from "friends") and neighbours who dont care too much when the ground shakes while you watch godzilla!!!
Coming back to the point. HD-DVD is basically a high definition dvd format that is backed by Toshiba. It's a step up from the regular DVD format. A single layer can store upto 17gb way up from the 4.7gb on a regular DVD. You also have a dual layer which can store upto 30+gb. This was heralded as the time of release in 2006 as the next big thing but a war had been brewing for some time with a rival format called Blu-ray which was backed by Sony. A HD-DVD is said to be cheaper in the sense that the player's are cheaper as well as the disc, but considering it hasn't exactly taken the world by storm like the dvd did for vhs, price was not the deciding factor. A HD-DVD player will set you back by a good $400. Am not sure of prices here in India. The number of movies available in HD-DVD outnumbers Blu-ray, so it was assumed that toshiba has the edge, mainly because content is king in the market. Also Microsoft decided to have a HD-DVD drive as part of its flagship gaming console the Xbox - 360. Smart Move!!!
Sony was the other company looking at next generation formats. They decided to back the Blu-ray technology. Same thing, different company but more storage. A single layer disc can hold upto 25 gigs which is awesome. Dual layer obv can store double that. So with two companies backing different technologies, a format war was bound to happen. Each company found innovative ways to push their technology and get more drives out into the market as well as more titles to help gain momentum and beat the competition. Sony was slow out of the gates and are still lagging behind when it comes to titles. The Blu-ray disc players are more expensive, as are the titles. BUT the biggest ace up Sony sleeve was the PS3. The PS3 which is seen as, the next generation of gaming, today was a much awaited follow-up to the wildly successful PS2. It has more computing power than most PC's and next generation graphics, sound and the works. But using the PS3 as its platform Sony has pushed more Blu-ray drives in the market. The Blu-ray drive is standard on a PS3 but such is not the case with the Xbox 360 and the HD-DVD drive. But Sony faced their own set of hiccups. The PS3 is a highly priced machine which didn't receive the same response as the PS2. But the sales have slowly picked up and the holiday season has pushed sales for the PS3.
I hope that you have been able to comprehend my explanation of HD-DVD and Blu-ray. This info is sourced from various websites and newsapapers but I have tried to explain it as best as I can.
Anyhoo, the announcement that Warner Bros will sell only Blu-ray DVD's from this year has dealt a severe blow to the HD-DVD format but analysts and retailers are still indecisive as to whether this is a death blow or not.
I forgot to mention one thing here. To the end consumer ( ppl like us) information while available is slightly misleading especially because there is no consensus on which of the two is better. Something else that just popped up in my head is this, there was talk that the porno industry would actually decide the winner. They actually backed Blu-ray as well if my memory serves me right.
I think that Blu-ray will emerge as a winner in this race. I mean if the porno industry thinks they are worth backing then who am I to go against them :-)
Anyway here's the news report from last week.
Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's rival HD DVD technology.
Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.
All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.
Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5 percent in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8 percent to $15.7 billion.
"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.
News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co, and Lionsgate are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom Inc's Paramount studios and General Electric's NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.
Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.
The full article can be found here. http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0432340820080104
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