Blu-ray wins high definition DVD war

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Feb 19, 2008 at 3:13 PM EST

Story Updated: Feb 19, 2008 at 3:13 PM EST

There is a winner in the high definition DVD war. Tuesday Toshiba announced it will no longer make HD DVD products. That means Blu-ray will become the industry standard.

Japan’s Toshiba company said it’s throwing in the towel after a long and expensive fight against Sony to control the next generation format for DVDs.

Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida said the move was “a very tough decision,” but that the company acted also for the benefit of consumers.

Toshiba’s defeat means "sayonara" to its HD DVD disk format. From now on, high definition movies will use a single format: Sony’s Blu-ray technology.

Consumers say they’re delighted about the end of the warring DVD formats

“With just one format, now I can decide which DVD player to buy,” said one customer.

“I’ve been holding off on buying a new player, waiting for one format to win out,” said another.

The war between Blu-ray and HD DVD evokes memories of the 1980s, when Sony’s Betamax slugged it out with VHS — and lost.

But things are different this time around. Unlike the last big electronics battle, the high-def disk technologies are considered equal in quality — and the emergence of a single format is expected to unleash a wave of pent-up demand for new hardware.

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