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HD Format War: Warner Goes Blu-Ray

January 5th, 2008

With the announcement that Warner Brothers will side with the Blu-Ray camp, that leaves only two studios sticking with HD-DVD: Universal and Paramount. Blu-Ray studios are now Warner, Sony, Disney, and Fox – essentially 70% of the movie market.

Another nudge in the Blu-Ray direction is the imminent rumor that Apple will announce Blu-Ray drives in Macs. So all around, it’s not looking so good for HD-DVD, which is the reason why there are some flustered corporations at CES.

I’ve bitched about the HD disc format wars before, and am hopeful this corporate stupidity will come to some resolution this year so I can finally buy a next-gen player, rent some HD discs via NetFlix, and enjoy our HDTV on a regular basis.

So if Apple announces something Blu-Ray related come MacWorld in a few weeks – say a Blu-Ray equipped Apple TV – a shopping trip may be in order. Even if the end experience is less perfect than I’m currently imagining.

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  • I've been holding off on a PS3 b/c part of the reason is that I want some high-def action from the Blu-Ray player, but this may tip the balance for me -- esp. if Apple is also going Blu-Ray.

    Man these format wars are so frustrating...
  • You and I both are hoping for this. Like Dave in the comment above I'm debating getting a PS3 because of the Warner/Blu-ray announcement, but would MUCH rather get an Apple TV with a Blu-ray built-in.
  • Yep - there's no question if Apple goes Blu-Ray at this point, I'll be getting a player. I'm already pretty Mac-centric and I'd like to buy next gen HD discs that I could play on a Mac.
  • Ha. Interesting opinion. I think that Apple will really do it!
  • ^ MC -- btw. Apple TV and PS3, I'd probably opt for the PS3 since the gaming aspect tips the balance in favor of that device (I'd be really curious to see the pricing on the new Apple TV units).

    Plus I'll end up getting a new Mac at some point which will presumably be Blu-Ray equipped.

    Of course, when I spend the time thinking about it I wonder how much I'd really use Blu-Ray. With all the talk about streaming High-Def and video downloads the idea of disc-based media does seem a tad archaic...
  • Ah yes - around and around we go with the video formats. :)

    Right now most of our flicks are watched via Netflix which has a very extensive rental of Blu-Ray and HD discs - still the same all you can rent for a monthly fee. So I'd definitely get a lot of use out of an HD player.

    Second seems all signs are pointing towards Apple announcing some kinda video rental deal for the Apple TV - and possibly with HD downloads. Depending on what that entails (mostly price, too) I could see going that route as well.

    I do agree that the future holds digital downloads or more HD via cable tv, but I'm thinking we're still in a transition period with broadband not being enough to handle the several gigs worth (Blu-Ray is up to 50GB) and the cable companies being what they are (they should do away with bundling and increase their on demand selection).
  • why don't these companies get together and make a 1 format disk as it costs a lot for the consumers to buy different items to play different types of disks.

    COMEON someone just make a disk that will work on 1 device!!!!
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