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gauchogolfer

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jan 28, 2005
5,551
6
American Riviera
From engadget:

In a huge blow to Toshiba, Universal, and the rest of the HD DVD devotees, rental giant Blockbuster has decided to stock only Blu-ray discs in the vast majority of its nationwide locations, although HD DVD titles will continue to be offered online and in the 250 (out of 1,450) stores that have been testing both formats since last year. Blockbuster VP Matthew Smith revealed to the AP that the decision to go with Blu-ray -- which will reportedly be announced tomorrow -- stemmed from an overwhelming customer preference for those titles in the test markets, accounting for over 70% of all HD discs rented.

Engadget.com

So, is the format war over?
 
Based on Tech Specs, Blu-Ray is ahead (20GB more storage on dual-layer for example) and it looks like it's having a lot more support right now.
 
This war is far from over (unfortunately).

There is too much money supporting each format and there is too much to be lost for Toshiba and Universal to give up anytime soon.
 
Does anybody know who's winning at this point? I'm just waiting for one format to die a violent death.
I don't think either side is winning. I think that either we will end up with dual format players, or people will just move to digital downloads/stay with DVD.
 
i don't think either format is doing exceptionally well, as the adoption to hd media has been slow. who here has a blu-ray or hd-dvd player?
 
Maybe people who have a PS3 and a few other rich jerks. :p

A commercial for a movie just played on the TV behind me "Coming soon to Blu-Ray disc and DVD" (No mention of HD-DVD). At this point, Blu-Ray has a small lead, but HD-DVD is a little cheaper.
 
I hope Blu-ray will win. Blu-ray is ahead of HD-DVD and more companies will probably just choose Blu-ray because of it's lead and it's better than HD-DVD (at least in some parts). I can see Blu-ray being standard in 2009-2010 timeframe.
 
Most people aren't even aware of the HD formats - which is usually true of any new technology. It's usually up to the geeks to buy up the initial stock and drive prices down. But with the whole format war going on, even they are wary of putting their money in the market. I know I am. In the end though, that just makes things worse. Competition is good in most respects, but I really hope they just give up this nonsense soon so we can all enjoy cheap HD media. The technology is there, but not in our hands. It's just dumb.



irmongoose
 
I hope Blue-ray will win. Blue-ray is ahead of HD-DVD and more companies will probably just choose Blue-ray because of it's lead and it's better than HD-DVD (at least in some parts). I can see Blue-ray being standard in 2009-2010 timeframe.

Drop the "e" it's "Blu-ray"

Blockbuster is a strong ally for Blu-ray however it certainly doesn't mean the end of any war. I don't personally rent discs at Blockbuster I dislike the company. I'll resume my Netflix account instead.

Neither format is really gaining much traction against a consumer base for DVD that is huge. It's looking like a stalemate is coming and both formats will be relegated to niche status.

Although as an HD DVD owner I'll readily admit that if the war can be won it'll be won by Blu-ray based solely on DRM. DRM is the only thing that is keeping Disney and Fox locked in. So in essence...I know that a Blu-ray win is a win for DRM (both formats have AACS encryption but Blu-ray adds another layer of DRM called BD+)
 
Oh thanks. I just realized I spelled it wrong. When did it change from Blue-ray to Blu-ray? I didn't realized this.

No sweat man I was just pointing it out..didn't want to sound condescending or anything. Sony tried to trademark Blueray but you cannot trademark a color so they dropped the "e". That's my useless trivia of the day.
 
No sweat man I was just pointing it out..didn't want to sound condescending or anything. Sony tried to trademark Blueray but you cannot trademark a color so they dropped the "e". That's my useless trivia of the day.

Thanks for clearing it up. From now on, I will always call it Blu-ray not Blue-ray. Also, of course I read the article but didn't pay too much attention to name changes. There is always something new to learn every day. :)
 
Thanks for clearing it up. From now on, I will always call it Blu-ray not Blue-ray. Also, of course I read the article but didn't pay too much attention to name changes. There is always something new to learn everyday. :)

if you really want to learn something new, "every day" is different from "everyday." example: you don't always wear your everyday shoes every day.
 
I haven't seem any recent figures but a few months ago Blu-ray was outselling HD-DVD (in discs) and also had a larger release rate of new titles. I'm sure part of the reason is from PS3 sales. I think a lot of people are justifying the exorbitant price of the PS3 but using it as a Blu-ray disc player, so they're motivated to buy movies in HD :rolleyes:

I, for one, don't want to take the plunge until there's a lot more certainty as to what the standard is going to be. I don't want to end up with a modern Betamax player :eek:
 
Wait...just because Blockbuster decided to start carrying more Blu-ray discs it's won? Doesn't it say it's still going to be offering the HD as well (the 250 in the stores)? I do think it's probably all the people that bought the PS3 renting them trying to justify if it's worth it. I don't know (and I know I don't know everyone, but my friends are generally the first to jump on these sort of bandwagons) anyone with a Blu-ray player other than those that have a computer or a PS3. They're gonna have to gain a lot of ground (either one) in order to be standard by 2009.
 
Soon we´ll have full HD movie downloads at good speed from iTMS and others. I know I´d rather have a disk with all my movies than a shelf full of plastic covers.

So yes, the format war is over. Didn´t you know? The disc is dead.
 
Soon we´ll have full HD movie downloads at good speed from iTMS and others. I know I´d rather have a disk with all my movies than a shelf full of plastic covers.

So yes, the format war is over. Didn´t you know? The disc is dead.
Not a chance. Not for a good while yet anyway. I don't know how things are in the rest of the world but here in the UK virtually everyone's broadband is capped one way or another. Be it actually stopping you after a certain limit is reached or seriously reducing your speeds. Downloading vast amounts of HD content (namely movies) by the masses is just not viable, the internet as it stands would be brought to a stand still.
 
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