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2008 a Blu-ray tipping point?
For those of you waiting for the Blu-ray/HD DVD format wars to end before buying your next DVD player, this last week may have brought some resolution.
The latest buzz is that Paramount will follow Warner Brothers’ lead and start releasing its DVDs in the Blu-ray format, even though it went HD DVD-exclusive only four months ago. (Or not.)
On Friday, Warner Brothers cast its high-def digital lot with Blu-ray, tipping the balance of major Hollywood studios to the format. Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and MGM now release their films in Blu-ray; Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, also Hollywood powerhouses, are in the HD DVD camp.
Warner Brothers’ Blu-ray decision means about 70 percent of Hollywood releases will be in Blu-ray, a percentage that will only increase if Paramount opts to change, too.
The Warner Brothers announcement got a lot of attention in the days before this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, but sneaking in with less notice was Sony’s announcement that it sold 1.2 PlayStation 3 game consoles during the holiday season. Those consoles are Blu-ray capable, by the way, which means another 1.2 Blu-ray players in the market - a growing indication that Blu-ray is closer to the top of the DVD format hill.
At least until the next great digital format breakthrough …
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