HD-DVD not in the Party Mood for CES

HD-DVD not in the Party Mood for CES - Withdraws Event

By Sr. Editor Lonny Paul on January 5th, 2008

Warner Home Video Ditches HD-DVD HD-DVD was dealt a major blow when Warner Home Video announced they were going to now exclusively use the BluRay High Definition DVD format. That was the last studio to hold out on making a choice between one and the other - and ironically, more HD-DVD players have been sold (excluding of course PS/3 sales) - yet the planned Cocktail Party and Event to be held on January 6 was cancelled.

“Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the cancellation read. “We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability - a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.” (From HD-DVD Announcement on 1/4)

Now, BluRay will seemingly move forward as the chosen format - those with HD-DVD players may find that unless they have a hybrid drive, like those introduced by LG and others, they may find it increasingly more difficult to obtain HD-DVD discs of new movies in the future.

Feel like you bought a BETA video deck? Don’t feel too bad - there is yet another HD format which we have discussed before that is trying to make their way into the US - primarily based on it’s advantage of also being compatible with current 8.7GB DVDs (Standard Definition DVDs) - which has a huge upside in cost savings.

Toshiba Says ‘Why?’

Toshiba, a primary proponent of HD-DVD said in a Press Release, “Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.’ decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD. As central members of the DVD Forum, we have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros. We worked closely together to help standardize the first-generation DVD format as well as to define and shape HD DVD as its next-generation successor.“

At least Sony should have an even bigger event at CES with this release - after losing the VHS wars, this is a BIG win for Sony.

At CES, TigerTV will be covering the latest in Video and more - Tune in to TigerTV’s 2008 CES Coverage.