So we’ve now seen the final set-piece in the battle between the two rival high-definition DVD formats.
Toshiba has capitulated, abandoning the HD DVD format it created, essentially surrendering to Sony’s rival Blu-ray.
This retreat is hardly surprising - as one after the other movie studios and major retailers, most recently Wal-mart, defected to Blu-ray, which also won the backing of PC and electronics makers such as Apple, Dell, HP, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp.
Also, HD DVD has been unable to resist the assault launched by Sony’s Playstation 3, which doubles as a Blu-ray player.
The basic version of the console now retails in New Zealand for $799, putting Blu-ray technology within reach of thousands of Kiwis who snapped up 5685 PS3s last December.
Meanwhile in the US, consumers bought 578,000 Blu-ray Disc players last year compared with only 370,000 HD DVD players.
And across the ditch the AFR reports that in December last year 2303 Blu-ray players were sold, compared with 528 HD DVD players. These figures exclude the 155,000 PS3 consoles sold since March last year. In comparison, Microsoft has sold just a few thousand HD DVD attachments for its Xbox 360.
With this kind of groundswell support for Blu-ray it is no wonder Toshiba has raised the white flag.
But has the best format won? Perhaps - HD DVD may be cheaper to produce, but Blu-ray has more capacity - 25GB per layer vs 15GB. Already some manufactures have announced four layer 100GB Blu-ray discs.
For consumers this means better sound and video quality as more data can be crammed onto a single disc. Such capacities should also stimulate uptake of Blu-ray in the corporate world as one 100GB disc would be a great back-up tool.
However, I don’t believe Blu-ray beat HD DVD on technological grounds. What has won the war is propaganda.
From the outset Blu-ray has had a more enticing, futuristic ring to it - it conjures up images of something out of sci-fi novels and sounds like something you’d find on the Starship Enterprise….
HD DVD tells you what it is - a high-def DVD - hardly imagination inspiring.
Being associated with the much-anticipated PS3 has also done Blu-ray a lot of favours - again linking it with ‘next-generation’ technology.
Plus, the cool-blue cases Blu-ray movies come in are so much more appealing than the yucky brown HD DVD boxes.
These are all emotive responses, but that is how consumers choose what to buy.
With technology as it is with any consumer goods, image is everything, and in this case Blu-ray had the edge over HD DVD from the start.
Sorry, Toshiba - your laptops are still pretty sexy though…
the person that wrote this information stated the facts well except that he fails to indicate there is no NEED for a 100G disc. The HD-DVD players all function better than a Blu-Ray machine, and home movie producers in HD could burn a disc with an ordinary DVD instead of the pricy Blu-Ray discs. I guess he thinks money doesn't matter (probably owns a Mac, too!).
Posted by: William Ball | March 4, 2008 2:56 PM