Blu-ray winning high-def battle

Posted on 3 Jan 2008 at 11:01

Blu-ray appears to be winning the battle to become the dominant high-definition video standard that succeeds DVD.

According to Hollywood Reporter, Blu-ray (BD) discs are outselling HD DVDs by three-to-one in Europe, while in Blockbuster's US stores, rentals are about 70-30 in favour of BD. Warner Bros' movie 300 is one of the minority of titles that are available on both formats: the BD version is selling twice as fast as the HD DVD disc.

While the relative figures may reflect the fact that there are more BD titles are more players, since they're built into every PlayStation 3 console, they do not make good reading for HD DVD's principle backers, Toshiba and Microsoft.

The decision by Paramount and its subsidiaries Dreamworks and Liongate to switch from BD to HD DVD, in return for a $150 million incentive, appears to have had little impact, Hollywood Reporter notes.

In fact it has been a while since there was any good news for the HD DVD camp. While its players were once much cheaper, Blu-ray player prices have been falling steadily to wipe out the rival's early advantage. And just last month, Warner, the only major Hollywood studio to back both formats, intimated that it mat be about to ditch HD DVD.

Author: Simon Aughton

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