LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Endgame

By Charles Van Horn -- Video Business, 3/12/2008

MARCH 12 | Maybe I’ve been reading too much Stephen King but I think I know how this format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray is really going to end.

You thought it was over? Well, for those of us who have long been involved in the media business, the story of this format war is worthy of the horror novelist who knows the true art of a scary ending.

Seen Carrie? Or maybe that great Kathy Bates chiller Misery? After two hours of gore and spine chilling terror, King leaves our hero victorious with his nemesis beaten to a bloody pulp or buried six-feet under. They catch their breath. They wipe the sweat from their brow. Then, without any warning and a sudden screech of violins, that dead enemy rises for one last fight. Carrie’s bloody hand reaches from the grave. Kathy Bates goes back at it for one more treacherous tussle.

And what does that have to do with Blu-ray and HD-DVD you might ask? The war isn’t over. Mark my words. Maybe the Blu-ray camp has won the battle but let’s not be lulled into complacency here. The war has only just begun.

That’s because this format war is one unlike any other we’ve experienced before. No wonder it was relatively short. The window of opportunity was narrowing fast and the fate of the DVD format—Hollywood’s cash cow no less—was at stake. And that’s something everyone—even Toshiba—has too much invested in to lose over a claim to the next windfall of media royalty payments.

Read the full article at ContentAgenda.com.