Blu-Ray wins the format war

For years the two competing formats of Blu-Ray and HD DVD have battled over the market to replace DVD's. Both offer high-definition resolutions so movies look fabulous on that new high def TV. Unfortunately the consumers have been the looser in this war and they have stayed away from purchasing anything until a clear winner emerged.

Within the last month, however, a number of announcements dramatically and decisively shifted the balance in favor of Blu-Ray. For a long time the studios were split with some offering only HD DVD movies, some offering only Blu-Ray movies and some offering both. But with Warner's departure of the HD DVD camp, Universal letting their HD DVD exclusivity contract expire, only Paramount remains in the HD DVD camp and even then there are many rumours of Paramount's departure. To top it off, Netflix announced today that they are dropping HD DVD. Clearly the writing is on the wall and Blu-Ray's win is ensured. Consumers can now start purchasing hi-def drives without fear and we can see the adoption rate increase. The real question is whether this is really all too late and whether consumers will skip hi def drives entirely and go straight to downloadable movies. Only time will tell.