hd-dvd

It's been some time since Sony's Blu-ray high definition movie format knocked off its stiff competition from Toshiba and HD-DVD. However, the monopoly on HD flicks hasn't yet morphed into big sales, according to reports. In fact, the slowing global ... economy could drastically hurt the transition from standard (and cheaper) DVD. Although it took a good long time for Blu-ray to nudge out HD-DVD, there had been speculation for some time that this would be the final result. Toshiba's HD-DVD caught fire early because of its cheaper price tag and a popular Xbox 360 add-on (yours truly was a sucker ... (view more)

One of the most painful tech losses in the last year came to HD-DVD owners, the faithful few who purchased Toshiba or Microsoft hardware hoping the high-def evolution would at some point steer in their direction. Now, those folks can wipe their ... tears and get a few bucks for their trouble. For those HD-DVD owners who still haven't heard, you can expect the number of movies shipping for the format to completely cease soon. Toshiba gave up the ghost months ago, after major studios and retailers announced they were finally ready to back Blu-ray, which despite its higher cost sold both more movies ... (view more)

Just in case you were waiting for one more sign the next-gen movie format war was officially over, Microsoft has now announced that it will be severing ties with HD-DVD and will no longer sell its add-on high definition player for the Xbox 360. The ... drive, which plugs into the Xbox 360's USB port, originally retailed for $199, but was dropped to $149 and then $129 as demand for the peripheral waned. That's the result of Blu-ray's increasing dominance in the market, especially with HD-DVD's loss of notable studios, Best Buy's decision to favour Sony's competing format, and finally Toshiba's ... (view more)

Earlier last week we reported that Best Buy decided to heavily back Blu-Ray in the next generation DVD format wars. We wrote that the battle appeared to be nearing its climax, and now Wal-Mart may be striking the killer blow to the rival HD-DVD ... system. While Best Buy plans to continue stocking both formats (but put all its promotional backing behind Blu-Ray), Wal-Mart is dropping HD-DVD completely. Their head of home entertainment, Gary Severson, said "We've listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-Ray products and movies with their purchases." They'll be ... (view more)

Although one big blue electronics retailer couldn't quite knock Toshiba's HD-DVD off, another one may just do the trick. Less than a year after Blockbuster failed to swing the high-def movie war by exclusively carrying Blu-ray flicks, Best Buy has ... decided it will more prominently display Sony's hardware and openly recommend it over rival HD-DVD. Best Buy president Brian Dunn made the announcement earlier this week. Jumping on the Sony bandwagon, the big box brass was quoted as saying, "Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray ... (view more)

In the war of Blu-ray versus HD-DVD, the last battle appears to be just over the horizon, mere weeks after it seemed Toshiba's format was in solid shape against its competitor from Sony. The reason this might all be at an end? No longer is Warner ... Brothers the only studio threatening to ditch Toshiba and HD-DVD. Just days after the studio officially announced its intention to only support Blu-ray in the future, Variety is now reporting that HD-DVD's best cards -- NBC Universal and Paramount -- are making undercurrent shifts so that they may soon change their allegiance to Sony as well. Though ... (view more)

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That seems to be the attitude of Microsoft now that Warner Bros has decided to back Sony's Blu-ray in the high definition movie format war. Although the Redmond-based company once stood firmly behind Toshiba's rival ... HD-DVD, things appear to be changing very quickly in the Pacific northwest. For those who haven't heard, Warner Bros recently dealt Blu-ray a pair of aces ('bullets') in the high stakes game for next generation's movie format. By turning its nose up at HD-DVD, Warner may have finally put the final nail in Toshiba's coffin; although the tech company ... (view more)

Just months after it appeared Paramount's decision to exclusively back Toshiba's HD-DVD would save the format from what seemed an inevitable demise, Sony's Blu-ray is again threatening to snuff out its competition. Sales figures peg Blu-ray movie ... titles well ahead of the competition with the 2007 holiday season now just another footnote in the history books. According to statistics filtering out of the Blu-ray Disc Association's recent press event, Sony's format outsold the competition from HD-DVD by 2-to-1 when it came to total 2007 movie sales. Moreover, there was not a single week during ... (view more)

Sony has dealt a major, and possibly decisive blow to Toshiba in the current HD format wars. On Friday, Warner Brothers announced that it would cease production of the HD-DVD format backed by Toshiba in favor of Sony's Blu-ray. (Source: nytimes.com ... ) The format war is similar to that of the 1980s when Sony was locked in combat with JVC and others as Beta and VHS home video players battled it out for consumer support. Sony's Beta ultimately lost that battle. The current war started shaping into a serious conflict in 2006 when both sides released their first home video players. Despite a lot of ... (view more)

There are some conflicting reports this Christmas on which high definition movie format is best to put your buck behind. After Toshiba's HD-DVD dominated most of 2006, 2007 has belonged to Sony's Blu-ray, which efficiently locked up most movie ... studios. Unfortunately for Sony, at least one major studio switch has changed the momentum heading into 2008. Back in the spring of this year, it looked fairly certain that Blu-ray was going to bump HD-DVD off the road en route to a stunning next-gen victory. With its hardware tucked under the hood of every Sony PlayStation 3 and Blockbuster announcing ... (view more)