Spring Break
HD DVD Says 'Goodbye'
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Focus
HD DVD Is Dead.
The fight to be the official successor to DVD is officially over.
On Feb. 19, Toshiba, who was at the forefront of HD DVD development, announced in a press release, "Toshiba Corporation has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders," meaning the Sony-backed Blu-Ray disc format would be the single high definition disc on the market.
Though the creation of HD DVD dates six years back and Blu-Ray technology developed soon afterwards, the first HD DVD player launched in Japan on March 31, 2006. The format war picked up steam this past winter season, as many industry analysts predicted that the 2007 holiday season would decide who would ultimately win out. In Toshiba's press release, the company credits "recent major changes in the market" for their reason to stop the production of HD DVD players. Originally, entertainment studios sided with both formats before shifting alliances in an attempt to expedite the resolution of the format conflict. Studios like Paramount and DreamWorks had at one point shifted allegiances to become HD DVD exclusive.
While the dispute between the two formats seemed to be at a stalemate, Warner Bros. decision to become Blu-Ray exclusive as of June 2008 caused a whirlwind of retail announcements stating their support of Blu-Ray. Best Buy issued a press release stating that they would begin recommending Blu-Ray over HD DVD as its high-definition format of choice, while Netflix stated that they intended to phase out HD DVD rentals. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club revealed shortly afterwards that they will stock HD DVDs until June 2008 before switching exclusively to Blu-Ray. HD DVD boasted nearly one million dollars in sales in January before its end was announced. Though unfortunate for the consumers who invested in an HD DVD player, this skirmish has been stagnant and resulted in consumer confusion between the two different formats, leading to continued reliance on DVD as opposed to a high definition option.
Another reason for Blu-Ray's success has been its inclusion in every single Playstation 3. Sony was criticized for including Blu-Ray support with its console and lost money during the launch period despite the hefty $500 and $600 price tags for the console. The PS3 is touted as one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market, which, coupled with its ability to play video games, made it an asset to Sony's bid for the Blu-Ray format. Though sales varied month to month, Blu-Ray Discs constantly outsold HD DVDs with the help of the PS3. The ongoing console war was affected by the HD DVD/Blu-Ray format brawl, with Microsoft siding with the HD DVD format. Microsoft's Xbox 360 offered an add-on HD DVD player for $200, though with the sudden defeat of the HD DVD, the player is now going for $50.
With the HD DVD format vanquished and soon to be obsolete, the high definition era can finally begin with less confusion.
Contact Fernando Dutra at Fernando.Dutra@UConn.edu.
The fight to be the official successor to DVD is officially over.
On Feb. 19, Toshiba, who was at the forefront of HD DVD development, announced in a press release, "Toshiba Corporation has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders," meaning the Sony-backed Blu-Ray disc format would be the single high definition disc on the market.
Though the creation of HD DVD dates six years back and Blu-Ray technology developed soon afterwards, the first HD DVD player launched in Japan on March 31, 2006. The format war picked up steam this past winter season, as many industry analysts predicted that the 2007 holiday season would decide who would ultimately win out. In Toshiba's press release, the company credits "recent major changes in the market" for their reason to stop the production of HD DVD players. Originally, entertainment studios sided with both formats before shifting alliances in an attempt to expedite the resolution of the format conflict. Studios like Paramount and DreamWorks had at one point shifted allegiances to become HD DVD exclusive.
While the dispute between the two formats seemed to be at a stalemate, Warner Bros. decision to become Blu-Ray exclusive as of June 2008 caused a whirlwind of retail announcements stating their support of Blu-Ray. Best Buy issued a press release stating that they would begin recommending Blu-Ray over HD DVD as its high-definition format of choice, while Netflix stated that they intended to phase out HD DVD rentals. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club revealed shortly afterwards that they will stock HD DVDs until June 2008 before switching exclusively to Blu-Ray. HD DVD boasted nearly one million dollars in sales in January before its end was announced. Though unfortunate for the consumers who invested in an HD DVD player, this skirmish has been stagnant and resulted in consumer confusion between the two different formats, leading to continued reliance on DVD as opposed to a high definition option.
Another reason for Blu-Ray's success has been its inclusion in every single Playstation 3. Sony was criticized for including Blu-Ray support with its console and lost money during the launch period despite the hefty $500 and $600 price tags for the console. The PS3 is touted as one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market, which, coupled with its ability to play video games, made it an asset to Sony's bid for the Blu-Ray format. Though sales varied month to month, Blu-Ray Discs constantly outsold HD DVDs with the help of the PS3. The ongoing console war was affected by the HD DVD/Blu-Ray format brawl, with Microsoft siding with the HD DVD format. Microsoft's Xbox 360 offered an add-on HD DVD player for $200, though with the sudden defeat of the HD DVD, the player is now going for $50.
With the HD DVD format vanquished and soon to be obsolete, the high definition era can finally begin with less confusion.
Contact Fernando Dutra at Fernando.Dutra@UConn.edu.
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Petraeus
posted 3/04/08 @ 12:45 PM EST
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