The Future Is Blu

Well the battle is over. And the winner is.......Blu-ray! Yes, the not so much publicized battle between Toshiba's HD-DVD format and Sony's Blu-ray format seems to have come to a sudden end. Mostly behind closed doors for the past 5 years, Sony and Toshiba have been going toe-to-toe in the battle for the next generation DVD format. In a battle that was not nearly as vicious nor well known as the videotape format war between Sony's Betamax and JVC's VHS , Sony slowly pulled away in this one and can now move forward in the production of their product.

Many of you might not have even know there was a battle going on because for one, the DVD format is still relatively new. Add to that the fact that it is still a form of compact disc rather than an entirely new medium and the confusion is easily understandable. But for those of you who have known about said battle this may come as a slight surprise, especially if you are one of the million or so owners of an HD-DVD player.

That's because until recently the battle was very neck and neck. Although Sony had locked up big names to back them such as 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Corp., and Apple, Toshiba also had big players backing them such as Universal and Paramount Pictures. In addition to those names, Toshiba also made a big splash late last year when Dreamworks (which is owned by Paramount) announced that it would switch from Blu-ray to HD-DVD. This was a major blow in the battle when Dreamworks is responsible for tons of kids movies, such as Shrek, which make up a lot of the home movie sales. Add in the fact that the average price for a Blu-ray player is around $500 and the average price for an HD-DVD player is around $300 and its easy to see why things were fairly even between the two.

Then on January 4th of this year, what could have been the knockout punch in this battle, the last major studio to produce movies in both formats, Warner Brothers, joined forces with Sony and decided to exclusively release their titles on Blu-ray.

Looking back on things, it seems to many that Sony's decision to make Blu-ray the format on which the PS3 would operate, one of the most important in the battle. Although many HD-DVD players have been sold during the battle, many more PS3 units have been sold and the advertising for the Blu-ray that has come with it seems to have tilted things in Sony's favor.

All of this means good things for us the conusmers as we no longer have to wonder which format will prevail. The death of HD-DVD will have the same impact as the death of Betamax in that rather than wondering which one to buy, things are settled and we can move forward. While both formats have their advantages and disadvantages, much like VHS and Betamax, Blu-ray will prove to serve us well. Ironically though, one of the best movies of 2007 will be released on HD-DVD tomorrow on the same day that Toshiba is expected to announce that it is bowing out.

I haven't had much of a vested interest in who won this battle since I heard about it around the time it started. Although I own a PS3, I have yet to purchase a single Blu-ray movie and only own one because it came with it when I purchased it (Talladega Nights). Am I glad that Blu-ray won the battle? Sure, means I don't have to drop any more money if I choose to purchase an HD movie. But for right now as long as DVDs are still around, I'm in no rush to drop $15-$20 more on a Blu-ray movie. Besides, as the owner of a 50-inch HDTV I can safely say that while Blu-ray does offer an amazing TV watching experience, not all movies require such technology to be enjoyed. I feel as if the whole HD experience is best used for sports and movies with tons of special effects. So its safe to hop on board with Blu-ray, but there's still no immediate rush to go out and get one.

*UPDATE*

Just to make the announcement official, heres the scoop