The
news has been all over the net that Toshiba is finally throwing in the towel for HD-DVD.
This isn't a terrible surprise given the number of studios that have jumped ship in
2008, and the cancellation of their CES press conference.
Personally, I was backing HD-DVD, yes I am an Xbox and Microsoft guy, so I am biased; but, the HD-DVD spec was always much more laid out. The features that HD-DVD had that Blu-ray didn't were the requirement for a hard drive or flash drive to store updates on, and an Ethernet connection allowing firmware updates and access to online content.
Both of those features really excited the Nerd within me. The idea of a DVD that isn't static and can be updated as new content becomes available was really amazing to me. Blu-ray has struggled with comparability since its inception. There were several movies that didn't work on all players, and the PS3, with its hard drive and net connection was always the only player that could always play all discs. There are rumours that the Blu-ray spec is changing, making the Hard drive and net connection a requirement. But, since it wasn't always required from the start, these features won't be widely used be the discs.
However, I certainly am very glad that the world is moving towards a single format. This certainly will hasten the price drop of the technology, and help ensure that your Hi Def disc collection won't be suddenly a pile of useless plastic. The issue now is if people will bother upgrading at all, DVDs look quite good on most HD screens. HD content does look better, but I doubt that the general public really cares about having the best quality possible. DVD had lots of benefits over VHS, over and above the picture quality, so it was an easy change to argue for. HD movies, are not as easy to argue.
Personally, I think that downloadable content will be the winner. There are no stores that make the argument easy that are around these days, too few people have Set top boxes that can download content. And the boxes that people do have, only allow you to rent HD movies, not buy. Once purchasing becomes available, and people have set top boxes, like the Xbox 360 or Apple TV, I really think that the convenience of getting movies instantly, and having all of your purchases readily available to you will be an argument that is hard to pass up.
Only time will tell to see what truly comes out on top. But one thing is abundantly clear. HD-DVD is definitely not the winner here.
Toshiba to give up on HD DVD, end format war: source | Technology | Reuters