The (HD-DvD) battle is nearing an end.

Those who chose the Blu-ray format can start to get excited — it looks like the Sony-led technology may win the war with HD-DVD thanks to an announcement by Warner Bros. that the studio is going to stop producing videos in HD-DVD.


I'll still argue that anyone buying these players, especially Blu-ray, is getting ripped off — the current prices are quite ridiculous. and is like spending $1,000 for a regular DVD player a few years ago. It was interesting to see Toshiba-led HD-DVD drop its player prices to $100 at Wal-Mart during the holidays.

It's the studios, however, that will decide this war. Blu-ray already had the advantage, with titles offered from seven of eight major studios. And of those studios, Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM were all exclusive to Blu-ray. Universal was the only exclusive HD-DVD format until it was recently joined by Paramount.

The decision by Warner Bros. reflects the same arguments by Blockbuster Video — the war is being decided by the consumer.

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, in a news release.

"Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future.”

Um, yeah. Such kind words are proving to be of little comfort to the folks at Toshiba, which decided to cancel a dog and pony show at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

And who can blame them? Line up the various players, and the picture becomes clear: Blu-ray is emerging as the winner, no matter how many HD-DVD players have been bought to date.

Despite this development, my advice remains the same: Don't buy either format until this war is settled once and for all.