Posted Fri Feb 1, 2008 at 10:00 AM PST
There was good (and bad) news for fans of both high-def disc formats this week, assuring plenty of continued back and forth in the ever-heated Format War Smackdown area of our forums.
On the Blu-ray side, the fallout from Warner's decision to drop HD DVD support continued, with distribution partner National Geographic confirming that it would follow Warner to Blu-ray exclusivity, and Gartner research predicting a Blu-ray win in the format war by late 2008.
On the HD DVD side, Toshiba announced plans for a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad, while format backers touted gains that saw HD DVD increasing its hardware market share for the week ending Jan 19 to 34% (up from just 7% the week prior).
Internationally, Blu-ray supporters pointed to an announcement from UK retailer Woolworth's that it would stop selling HD DVD discs as a major European victory, while HD DVD fans trumpeted word that two Italian distributors (Dolmen Video and Mikado) would back HD DVD only.
Meanwhile, back here in the states, steep discounts on HD DVD players at Circuit City lead to a series of reports that the retailer was planning to drop support of the HD DVD format. (A rep for the retailer was later quoted as saying the company planned to remain platform agnostic.)
To discuss these stories (and many more), visit the Format War Smackdown area in our Forums -- just be sure to wear appropriate padding.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.