HD DVD vs. Blu-ray
the final round
DEREK SELF
BizTech Writer
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: BizTech
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Both formats, released in 2006, were backed by two projects from companies such as Toshiba and NEC Corporation of America for the HD DVD format along with Sony and Phillips for the Blu-ray format.
With these two formats battling to obtain HD video supremacy, consumers were either forced to wait patiently for the battle to end or fork over large amounts of money to be able to experience the HD movie experience.
In the beginning HD DVD players ranged from $499-$799, while the Blu-ray players were anywhere from $500-1,500. Eventually movie buffs could purchase a combo player in 2007 for $1,199.
Sony (which also had a large involvement with the Betamax format) and Phillips started the Blu-ray format. Working with two different prototypes eventually led to the Blu-ray format. The HD DVD format was run by the DVD Forum that was chaired by electronics company Toshiba.
The DVD Forum was split over whether to use the more expensive blue lasers like Sony and Phillips or go with a less-expensive version made on dual-layer DVD-9 disks.
In the beginning, Blu-ray was backed by companies such as LG, Sony and Pioneer. Companies like RCA, Kenwood and Microsoft backed the HD DVD format.
Microsoft and Sony's involvement added to the format battle with the release of the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360, since the two systems supported the format that the companies backed.
Each format had exclusive support of three of the companies from the big six movie studios: Sony, News Corp, Walt Disney, Time Warner, Viacom and General Electric (Universal Movie Studios).
Two of the most likely scenarios that lead to Blu-ray winning the format war would be the Sony Playstation 3 and Warner Brothers, the largest distributor of DVDs, dropping the HD DVD format.
The Playstation 3, which was released in the United States on Nov. 17, 2006, incorporated a Blu-ray disc player as a standard feature of the unit. Xbox 360 users had to purchase a standalone player. As of Feb. 19, about 10 million of the Sony units have been sold compared to about 1 million of the HD DVD players, including the Xbox 360 add-on players.
Warner Brother's move to go strictly to the Blu-ray format caused a domino effect in the market. On Feb. 15, Wal-Mart announced that it would start phasing out HD DVD completely by June 2008.
Netflix, the world's largest online movie rental service, announced on Feb. 11 that it would also begin stocking only the Blu-ray format.
What seemed to become a long, drawn out war comparable to the VHS/Betamax battle, the HD DVD/Blu-ray war only took a couple of years to complete, ending with Toshiba's announcement that it is terminating development and marketing of the HD DVD format.
As part of Toshiba's plan, it is going to continue holding spare parts for eight years after sales have stopped. Shipments of players will end this month.
However, Toshiba will continue to make recordable HD DVD disks.
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 10
dan
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:09 AM MST
this is old news.....old news that's been written about using the same words as other publications 1000 times over. Someone needs to go to Toshiba and ask some tough questions and start writing NEWS, not writing the obvious over and over again. (Continued…)
espostal
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:21 AM MST
This was a very well written article. I appreciate your accuracy, you pinpointed all the detail.
Pete
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:25 AM MST
Thanks for the article. I can finally go out and safely buy a Blu-Ray player.
As for Dan, 1st Post, get a life. Not everybody sits on the net all day. (Continued…)
AmonRa
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:30 AM MST
To the most informed and "knowledgeable" Dan. Just because you have little else to do but follow such articles as the one above does not mean that others wil not find it useful. (Continued…)
HTPC Guf
posted 3/03/08 @ 10:02 AM MST
Have BLu-ray call me when their disks can play on all of my existing portable DVD players, in-car players, bedroom DVD players, and PCs.
Until that day comes Blu-ray will be a niche product only purchased by a small percent of home theater buffs. (Continued…)
johnny
posted 3/03/08 @ 10:16 AM MST
Just bough an xbox 360 HD DVD player for 70 bucks and about 25 movies for 180 bucks. Good deal imho, keep going fire sale! Heck, just a non v.1 BluRay player costs more than that. (Continued…)
Dwight
posted 3/03/08 @ 12:10 PM MST
Gotta admit. Everything in my house only plays HD. I'll not be shelling out all that money for a BLU RRY Player either.
50GB, that's a lot of digital control they'll have at the expense of a miniscule improvement in picture/sound quality. (Continued…)
college forum
posted 3/03/08 @ 4:25 PM MST
Dan got it right the first time.
Cozmo
posted 3/26/08 @ 11:53 PM MST
I don't care how many times someone has written about hd dvd vs. blu-ray. People can write about whatever they want. It is interesting to hear other people's viewpoints of issues like this and if the post helps anybody not spend money on an hd dvd player now it was probably worth it. (Continued…)
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