The State of Blu-ray

Looking back at it 2007 will probably be the year HD began to sink into people’s consciousness, and 2008 will be the year HD goes mainstream. The state of Blu-ray and Albert’s HD set up will be much different by this time next year.

The United States Congress has ordered that by mid February 2009, analog television broadcast must stop this means digital television sets with digital receivers will be mandatory by early 2009. You bet retailers are going to be pushing sales of new televisions this next year. The largest roadblock to an easy transition of HD home video is the lack of a unified front. Here the problem, movie studios were hoping consumers would decide which format to favor and consumers are wary to invest in either format until there is a clear winner.

Enter Warner and CES 2008. There have been rumors in recent weeks that Warner is ready to announce exclusivity soon. As the last of the major studios to be format neutral why would Warner pick? And What would it pick? The answers to both questions are of course related. Making two formats is expensive and a hassle. It has always been the expectation of Warner that at some point it would only have to make one format, but so far it’s been making 3 (including of course regular DVDs). Choosing to go Blu-ray exclusive effectively end the format war. Immediately it would divide the studios into Fox, Disney, Sony, and Warner vs Paramount and Universal. It would also give Blu-ray in terms of releases a 3 to 1 margin, not to mention movies released on both Blu-ray and HDDVD sell better on Blu-ray on similar margins. With that kind of lead it would be quite near impossible for HDDVD to survive to see 2010. Should Warner choose to go HDDVD it will drag this format war out indefinitely, splitting film studios down the middle.

Beyond the technological arguments for either format, beyond how spiffy “picture in picture” is, these are the most compelling arguments for why Blu-ray is the prudent choice in 2008. By ending the format war as soon as possible Warner can facilitate a speedy transition to HD home entertainment. (Obviously this helps their bottom line, they’re not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts)

So those are my thoughts. Will I be crying tears of joy during CES 2008 or will Albert? Tune in to redvsblu on Jan 8^th 2008!