Universal switches to Blu-Ray, real end of HDDVD?
Last week, Warner Bros. shook up the next-gen format war with a seemingly impromptu announcement that it would be abandoning Toshiba’s HD DVD high-definition video playback format in favor of Sony’s Blu-ray standard beginning in May. The blow to HD DVD was followed by a vicious left hook, when the Financial Times revealed that fellow HD DVD supporter Paramount may capitalize on an out clause in its exclusivity contract with Toshiba that specifically pertained to Warner Bros.’ defection. Though the Viacom-owned Paramount officially continues to stand by its HD DVD exclusivity decision–as does format supporter Microsoft, despite recent reports that Blu-ray support for the Xbox 360 wasn’t out of the question–Universal Studios would be the sole major-studio standard bearer for the HD DVD format. However, it now appears Universal may be readying the haymaker that will down Toshiba’s video playback standard for the count.
Variety reports that Universal Studios has ended its HD DVD exclusivity deal, though it will continue to only support the format until its current arrangement with Toshiba ends May 31. The report did not indicate whether Universal will exclusively support Sony’s Blu-ray format after that date. Speaking to GameSpot, a Universal Studios representative confirmed that, for the time being, the studio will continue to support HD DVD, though they would not say whether Blu-ray support is also on the agenda. Sony’s Blu-ray high-def video player, which is prominently advertised as one of the primary draws of the PlayStation 3, enjoys the lion’s share of support from major motion picture studios. In addition to Warner Bros., the Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate all support the format exclusively. New Line Cinema and HBO, both subsidiaries of Time Warner, also reportedly revealed during the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show that they would follow Warner Bros. as Blu-ray exclusive studios.
Source: Gamespot
Great. Blu Ray is the way of the future. My Playstation 3 is a great multimedia center, and I’m thankful for buying it now that the war is essentially over.
This is like the battle of VHS & the old Beta tapes. (I forgot the name)
Why is the title Universal switches to Blu-Ray when they haven’t? Kinda misleading.
betamax war
I still believe hddvdv will win, or at least tie this war, microsoft will never dump hddvd
@isagel
you are sadly mistaken
yep its a blue plannet
I hope this is over, I was in fear of buying a HD DVD player (since they are cheaper) over blu-ray only to find it obsolete. Looks like I will most likely pick up a PS3 since it already had blu-ray and the costs of a blu-ray player are almost the costs of a PS3 anyways.
i prefer reg dvd, downloading movies is better than payin for overpriced crap that dont look that much better
The war is coming to an end now. It will only be a matter of time before HD DVD surrenders. Then we can all rejoice that Blu-ray will be the single high definition format.
@post9
The difference between SD and 1080P HD on a 60″ TV is like the difference between night and day.
Oh yeah,, you don’t watch dl’d movies on HDDVD players or Blu-ray,, you watch them on your pc.
The war of the n00bs. Who cares. Optical media is already dead regardless of whether blu-ray “wins” or not.
why should i bother? thanks to the format war i have choosen to only download the 1080p footage and watch it from laptop at the plasma. no need for an additional drive (or two), no need for new hardware because of the copy protection, only advantages!
x264 already won ages ago really.
Um wow, this is funny watching fanboys of discs… Anyways just get a multi player… They are actually sometimes cheaper than the ones that ONLY play BluRay. Most of them support DivX and all of that jazz but will make the wondering of (is this going to work) in the back of the store. Myself? I think this really makes no point since most Releases are Avi anyways and if they are in HD then you just burn to a DVD and go I mean cmon who here is in the scene and doesn’t have a DivX player for their pretteriful Big Screen TV? Cmon
@3 Reading comprehension, FTW!!! Did you even read the article you mongoloid? Right after the nice little picture, it clearly says “Variety reports that Universal Studios has ended its HD DVD exclusivity deal”. Hello!! Go back to reading highlights for children and your pop-up books.
Why is everyone wasting there time arguing about hd and blu ray when 75% of people download movies and watch them on standard dvd or on there pc. What a waste of time? Pointless argument abd in ten years they will both be obselete anyway!!!!!
Years ago, weren’t CDs supposed to be obsolete? Name a new car that doesn’t come equipped with one in the dash, and I’ll believe that line. Likewise, DVDs were supposed to be obsolete… the rental industry (e.g., Netflix or video shops) are thriving from this so called obsolete technology. On the other hand… VHS is obsolete.
@18 I bet it’ll take only 2 years, not 10
well well well, I think all of you possessed the part of the company “Sony” otherwise this argument will not be as this long. grow up!!
I think it was kinda obvious that it was definitely a blue world when you think about the storage capacity of BluRay compared to HDDVD. It only made sense…
Again, why do you care so much about Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD, Martin? I don’t think you’d care that much if your parents file a divorce which I think they did already.
The next generation war is already being formed
HVD vs. SVOD
Holographic Versatile Disc = 3.9 TB / 1.0GBps xfer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc
http://www.hvd-forum.org/abouthvd/technology.html
Stacked Volumetric Optical Disc = 9.4GB per wafer, ~100 wafers per disc
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9003861
although we all have been waiting for holographic storage for decades now…
This begs the question, for movies and such, at what point does the margin in improved quality not justify the new development? I mean how much more better quality would a HVD be over a 1080p Blu-Ray movie? Its gotta be negligible, at least to the average human eye and ear.
Blue-Ray for storage, HD DVD for Movies it should be. HD DVD is the better quality format for movies.
Much like Betamax was better than VHS I suppose. Until I find a decent price one that also play DivX I for one wont be buying any of them anyway. Especially a PS3.
Universal is bound by an exclusive contract until May but they are clearly not going to renew it and will sign one with Blu-ray
It’s over kids , HD-DVD is history.
Long live King Blu-Ray !!!!!
Who cares apart from some fanboy losers with no wives or girlfriends?
I think this is just a last ditch attempt to make money, neither blu-ray or hd-dvd is the future, we are coming to the end of physical media. Purchases of music on physical formats is pretty much dead, and as soon as high speed internet kicks in then buying movies on a disc will be dead too, the only purpose these shiny new discs are going to serve would be to back up data. even then there are better ways
invest in a nice graphics card with HD outputs to your multimedia center, no need for hardware that can break down and leave you waiting for a replacement (if warranty hasn’t expired)
far as the format battle, wasn’t it all but over once the porn industry backed blueray? not that any of us pay for porn either lol
Universal is behind HD-DVD all the way and their last press release yesterday says that clearly…..Even their vice-president has direct ties with HD-DVD so dont expect them to switch to Blu-Ray. Its no longer an Toshiba VS Sony war but an Universal/Paramount VS the rest of the movie companies.
PS : Why would people support Blu-Ray movies when they cost 10$ more than an HD-DVD movie and they offer the same exact thing ?
i prefer blu-ray over hddvd or several reasons, the main reasons being the available space and available burners…
i also knew from the beginning that blu-ray was going to win.
the ps3 comes with a blu-ray drive…
the main problem is though that A SONY STANDARD is always going to be expensive…
Or if none of you support either one you can just continue to rip/download movies and buy an Upconvert DVD player, just as good till the prices come down..
Blu-Ray has already won. All it took was the same thing it took for VHS to win over Betamax. Porn. At least three of the top “Adult Entertainment” production companies, including Vivid and Hustler, have committed to Blu-Ray. HD-DVD is dead…
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Universal/Industry_Trends/Universal_Re-Affirms_HD_DVD_Support/1362
Who even cares when neither format will go mainstream for AT LEAST another 2 years, until then, it’s not a big deal. Once everyone switches, a few years later they’ll make a BS new format and try to get us to buy that too.
It was just a false rumour…
“5:00 pm ET January 10, 2008 — Universal Studios has officially dispelled the rumors from Variety that it will drop HD DVD and switch to Blu-ray.”
http://www.betanews.com/article/Universal_Were_staying_with_HD_DVD/1199974983
Is this the same thread from the other day.. LoL
thumb drive>Blu-ray & HD DVD
As other people have pointed out, the statement says “currently” and not “exclusively”. Didn’t a similar thing happen to Warner not so long ago only for them to drop HD DVD several weeks later?
@5
The thing is, Microsoft can hold on to HD-DVD as long as they want: If studios do not produce and consumers do not buy (because there is nothing to buy), it is as good as dead.
Sony lost betamax, they will lose blu-ray
its worth arguing over… as soon as blu-ray takes it all.. the media has a chance to lower in price.. i want a spindle of 50 blu-ray disks for$20 not 20 bucks for one disk
Does Linux support Bluray?
@ wildprometeuz
Yes it does. There is also Blu-ray playback support for Linux on the PS3.
Whichever format wins, that will be the next recordable format that will become standard for storage.
seriously gamespot as source. that site is joke
bringing up the porn industry in every HD thread is so boring. it was pointed out numerous times, it does not matter this time around, peopel d/l porn, paid or free. no one is actually getting them in HD.
Blueray will dominate. There is some content today for blueray already plus the hardware is easily available too.
IMHO the main reason for this brutal switch, is simply because AACS has been successfully attacked (security protection present both on HD-DVD and Bluray), but BD+ (only present on Bluray) is still secure.
Funy thing is that hackers kept telling people to go with hddvd because it’s the less “evil one”, but their work probably has killed hddvd -_-
Look Man The Futur of High Def, isn’t about BluRay or HDDVD
It Could Be HD VMD!
Its a Triple Layered kinda HD disc, That supports up to 51 GB!
and won’t be that pricy cause the costs would be really low, they need small adjustments to a dvd player/burner and you’re done!
Google it up, my site was in Dutch..
http://www.nmeinc.com/comparisonchart.htm