The HD Format War is Over

The High-definition optical disc format war between the Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps is officially over. On February 18th, 2008, Toshiba, the proponent of HD-DVD, announced that it would cease the development and marketing of HD-DVD players and discs, conceding the format war to Sony’s Blue-ray disc.

Both technologies use blue laser diodes which has a shorter wavelength, thus allowing for higher density optical media, thus leading to more data storage. The two formats actually had the backing of some of the biggest consumer electronics companies and film studios in the world.

In January 4, 2008, what was supposed to be an all-out war had a sudden twist. Warner Bros. which has the biggest market share of DVDs, and which had supported both formats, decided to drop HD-DVD in favor of Blu-ray starting June 2008. This announcement led to the cancellation of some HD-DVD sponsored events at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Toshiba reduced prices of its HD-DVD players the following week by almost half in a last ditch effort to win back studio support and prolong the format war. It was however all for naught and eventually, Toshiba ceased all HD-DVD related operations. Instead of embracing Blu-ray, Toshiba now makes upconverting DVD players, which the company claims produce HD images just as well.

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