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There were smiles all around at the Blu-ray Disc Association press conference at CES. And why not? With the news Warner is joining the ranks, there are now six major studios (Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Sony & Warner) in the Blu-ray camp. The Toshiba-backed HD DVD format is supported by Paramount, Universal and DreamWorks.
Here are the numbers thrown about at the presser: Blu-ray movies outsold HD DVD in the U.S. and world by nearly 2-to-1 in 2007; Blu-ray owns 85% of the global market in hardware sales (that includes the PS3).
“These are obviously very dramatic numbers in favor of Blu-ray,” says Andy Parsons, head of the Blu-ray Disc Association. “This (the six studios backing Blu-ray) is something we think will help make the choice much more clearer for consumers about which format is going to dominate.”
Can the future get any Blu-er? Danny Kaye, VP at Fox, expects the current number of Blu-ray players (500,000 playback devices, 3 million PS3 players) to increase to 6 million in 2008. “There’s a clearer situation in the market now, the consumer can begin to focus on Blu-ray,” says Kaye.
So what can Blu-ray lovers expect in 2008? “As an industry we’ve been spending a lot of time looking at creating great video and audio content to tickle the early adopter, says Sony president David Bishop. “Now we’re ready for the next phase….to start to develop interactivity.”
(Check out our Photos from the CES Show Floor.)
yea, HD is dying…kinda sucks because i thought it would win.
I really like this blu ray player...does anyone know if its any good?
PS3 won the war for Blu-Ray - period! If I bought a game machine with a hi-def movie player built-in, I certainly wouldn’t go out and buy a “stand-alone” player. I’d use my free Blu-Ray player. The bottom line is that the Playstation 3 won the format war, not the premise that Blu-Ray is better, because it’s not. HD-DVD was a finished product from day one. Blu-Ray can never say that. Trust me, my HD-DVD player will not collect dust. With less than $300.00 and a computer… I can copy Blu-Ray titles to HD-DVDs.
Haha posted here
May the fleas of a thousand camels infest sony’s nose hairs.
@YoureAll…
I think you’re right that downloaded/streaming content is where we’re heading. However, there’s a bunch of great HD content available now on disc whether HD DVD or BluRay. I have players for both formats and am looking forward to boxes like what XStreamHD is promising (or, if I get the chance to see it in action, a Vudu might even find a place in my rack).
I think sitting and waiting just means missing out. Heck—I know a bunch of people who have DTheater machines, and knowing what they spent on them makes the 200 bucks I spent on an HD DVD player seem pretty small, and, that’s less than what I spend on my BluRay player, which also helps cushion the blow.
Of course, neither player is going to just stop working with an end to the HD disc format war.
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