Toshiba scraps HD-DVD, gives in to Sony Blu-Ray in format war

Toshiba abandoned its HD DVD technology, surrendering to Sony's Blu-ray in the entertainment industry's biggest format war since VHS beat Betamax in the 1980s. Toshiba, the leading promoter of HD DVD, will reduce shipments of players and recorders, aiming to close the business by March, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today [19 Feb 2008].

Sony's victory may stoke sales of high-definition discs after shoppers held back purchases because of uncertainty over which technology would prevail. US retailers plan to stop selling HD-DVD's after Warner Bros. Entertainment, the largest DVD publisher, said last month [Jan 2008] it would release its films only on Blu-ray. An HD DVD can store up to 30 gigabytes of data, or six times more than conventional DVDs, less than the 50 gigabytes for Blu-ray discs.

- Hooray for Blu-Ray! It's about time Sony won a format war (RIP Betamax, Minidisc, SACD).

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