Blu-ray Wins the Format War, But What Did It Really Win?

Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 1, 2008

This is in response to AP writer Peter Svensson’s article on the death of HD-DVD.

When HD-DVD first released, it sounded like a logical step. Television had made the jump from standard definition and digital broadcasts, to high definition. So why wouldn’t DVD do the same? It would be another logical step for another company, say Sony, to step up and compete against this new format. So what we had now, was a war. There was a war between formats, reminiscent to the media war of Beta vs. VHS. So what is different between that much earlier war, and this most recent one? The first war gave a clear and concise conclusion, whereas this one still leaves consumers confused.

During the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s you could either watch TV or listen to records. The need for a recording media was there. You couldn’t go out and rent a movie, the technology wasn’t there yet. But along came Betamax and VHS. They both changed everything. Once you had the technology, there was nothing to go back to. When VHS prevailed, consumers had already agreed to the need of the idea of personal media and embraced it. It didn’t matter who won, because the consumer was who won in the end.

Another victory came right before Y2K. Now we had grown tired of the big, clunky tapes that needed to be rewound. VHS was the norm, and we were yet again faced with another change on the horizon. All types of disc formats were hitting shelves and sure enough, the smaller and most practical media won out. DVD was a logical step for us to take. We were promised better picture, digital audio, small media, no need to rewind and special features. We needed DVD, and we were winners once again.

Within the last two years though, we were faced with another decision: HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? What did they both have to offer other than better picture, better audio and more special features? A higher price-tag for the players and discs. It sounds like a logical step to take, but this one doesn’t change our lives that the past two have. From polls that I have seen, a large percentage of people don’t even realize that they are or aren’t watching High Definition. I know that at least my own parents can’t notice the difference between standard DVD and HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. So is upgrading really a necessary step to take?

What I’m trying to say is, that the battle between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray was exactly that…a battle. It was a battle of two Davids, fighting for the right to take on their Goliath: Standard DVD. In short, Sony has won exclusive rights to take on a much larger media that has its grasp on nearly every home in the world. Consumers should have been happy that the format war is over right? Most should probably still be skeptical on making the jump. Blu-Ray beat HD-DVD, but can it beat DVD?

If you look at the best selling Blu-Ray Disc of 2007 (300, 472,400 units for the year), and compare it to the first week of release for a rather mediocre DVD (1408, 666,243 units in first week), it is easy to see which format has a stronger grasp on consumers. Sure, you can now argue that more and more people will be buying Blu-Ray players…but will it be the demographic that counts? The bread and butter for DVD is families, whereas the bread and butter for Blu-Ray is tech-20’s who usually are renters and not owners. Most renters will be watching movies in a central area, one room, on their home theater system. Most home-owning families watch their movies in several rooms. So when the newest Disney film releases on disc, will it be an advantage or disadvantage to have a disc that only works in a specified player in the house?

At the current price of Blu-Ray players, most families will not be running out to buy one. Those who do though, might be forced into buying more than one copy of a film so that it can be enjoyed in every room of the house. This is where HD-DVD had an advantage by developing combo-discs that contained both standard and HD versions of the films. In short, expect now to have an even bigger decision to make. First it was just HD vs. Blu-Ray. Now it is Blu-Ray vs. your entire collection. Only you, the consumer, can decide. Let’s hope we all make the right decision.

Sound Off: Are you more likely to by a Blu-ray player now, or just stick with standard DVD?

Read more articles by Brian C. Gibson