Reuters, the NYTimes, and other sources report that Toshiba is about to give up on HD-DVD. The combination of Wal-Mart, Netfix, and Warner moving exclusively to Blu-ray seems to have done the trick. As a consequence, the studios will be able to rely on superior anti-piracy technologies incorporated in Blu-ray, include the BD+ programmable security layer.
Reasons given by some for the end of the HiDef optical disc format war now include a concern that net distribution of HiDef video may supplant optical discs of whatever format in several years and the studios , consumer electronics companies, and others need a decent period before that happens to recover their respective investments. Matt Richtel and Eric Taub's NYT article noted:
Any celebration over the victory may be tempered by concerns that the DVD — of any format — may be doomed by electronic delivery of movies over the Internet. The longer HD DVD battled Blu-ray, the more the consumer market has had an opportunity to gravitate to downloading movies. Such a move, coupled with the growth of technology that makes such downloading easier and cheaper, has threatened to cut into the long-term sales of physical movies in the DVD format.
Mr. Doherty [Richard Doherty, research director of Envisioneering[, like Mr. Parsons [a spokesman for the Blu-ray Disc Association], argued that digital downloads are not yet affecting the DVD market and that they would not for some time. They said that movie downloads face a host of challenges, chief among them that many consumers have insufficient bandwidth to download movies or move them from device to device on a wireless home network.
It seems Mr. Doherty and Mr. Parsons seem to live in a world of fantasy. How could existing digital downloads legal and not have no affect on the DVD market? This seems counterintuitive considering the attention studios give towards internet piracy of their films, and the growing availability of pirated HD content.
Posted by: Rob | Monday, February 18, 2008 at 12:11