It is safe to buy that Blu-ray disk player now

Blu-Ray VS HD DVD, and Blu-Ray already won the war. The sturm und drang over the Blu-ray vs HD DVD battle has come to naught. After a bit of jostling Blu-ray has taken an unassailable lead over HD DVD.
The Blu-ray camp had a much better offering to begin with, but Toshiba decided to challenge them anyway with the HD DVD. Toshiba had one edge over Blu-ray, and that was the production and/or transition cost from DVD to high definition technology, which is supposed to be significantly cheaper with HD DVD. But if Toshiba and HD DVD camp had an ace in their sleeve, unfortunately for them the Blu-ray camp and Sony had the remaining three.

It is safe to buy that Blu-ray disk player now
The biggest loser in this is Toshiba. They’ve put a lot of time and money behind HD DVD. Microsoft is also a loser, partly as a supporter and partly because their add-on Xbox HD DVD player sales will tank. The folks who bought one can’t be feeling too good about Microsoft’s judgement.

Intel, another backer, loses too, but they seem to have had the least skin in the game. They probably just went along because of Microsoft.

It's official. Toshiba just made a statement saying, " it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders." Cessation of the player and recorders are targeted for March 2008. Volume production of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and games will end in the same time frame. However, Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation did say that Toshiba will, "continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives." That's it folks, the format war is over, Blu-ray has won.


Here is the full specification between Blu-Ray and HD DVD

Blu-Ray		HD DVD
ROM single layer: ROM dual layer: RW single layer: RW dual layer: Highest test: Theoretical limit:	23.3 / 25GB 46.6 / 50GB 23.3 / 25 / 27GB 46.6 / 50 / 54GB 100GB 200GB	Single layer: Dual layer: - - Highest test: Theoretical limit:	15GB 30GB - - 45GB 60GB

Codecs
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
MPEG-2 Microsoft Video Codec 1 (aka VC1, WMV HD, etc.) H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC Dolby Digital AC-3, DTS, linear PCM Optional: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD	MPEG-2 Microsoft Video Codec 1 (aka VC1, WMV HD, etc.) H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC Dolby Digital AC-3, DTS, linear PCM, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD Optional: DTS HD

Security
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
Mandatory HDCP encrypted output ROM-Mark watermarking technology BD+ dynamic crypto (physical layer) Advanced Access Content System (AACS)	Mandatory HDCP encrypted output (for HD) Volume identifier (physical layer) Advanced Access Content System (AACS)

Movie studio support
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
20th Century Fox Buena Vista Home Entertainment Hollywood Pictures Lions Gate Miramax Entertainment MGM Studios New Line Cinema Sony Pictures Entertainment Touchstone Entertainment The Walt Disney Company Vivendi Universal Games Warner Bros.	Dreamworks Paramount Pictures Universal Studios

Major movie rental outlets *Still awaiting final confirmation
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
Blockbuster Netflix Movie Gallery / Hollywood Video*	Movie Gallery / Hollywood Video*

Nationwide retail and major online support
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
Amazon Best Buy Circuit City Costco K-Mart Target (said to be mostly Blu) Wal-Mart	Amazon Circuit City Costco K-Mart Target

Format founders
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
Sony Corporation Royal Philips Electronics	Toshiba Corporation Hitachi Corporation

Companies listed as Members of the Board or Managing Members
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
Apple, Inc. Dell, Inc. Hewlett Packard Company Hitachi, Ltd. LG Electronics Inc. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Panasonic (Matsushita Electric) Pioneer Corporation Royal Philips Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Sharp Corporation Sony Corporation Sun Microsystems TDK Corporation Thomson Twentieth Century Fox Walt Disney Pictures and Television Warner Bros.	Memory-Tech Corporation NEC Corporation Sanyo Electric Co. Toshiba Corporation

Companies listed as Members, Associate Members, or Contributors (may include duplicates and/or subsidiaries)
Blu-Ray	HD DVD
1K Studios, LLC Acer Incorporated Adobe Systems Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Allion Test Labs, Inc. Almedio Inc. Alpine Electronics Inc. Alticast Aplix Corporation ArcSoft, Inc. Arima Devices Corporation ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG ASV Corp. AudioDev AB Avid Development GmbH B&W Group B.H.A. Corporation BASF AG BluFocus Inc. Bose Corporation Brickbox Digital Media Broadcom Corporation Canon Inc. Cheertek Inc. China Hualu Group Co., Ltd. Cinram Manufacturing Inc. CMC Magnetics Corporation Corel Corporation Cryptography Research Inc. Custom Technology Inc. CustomFlix Labs, Inc. CyberLink Corp. D&M holdings, Inc. D-Box Technologies Inc. Daewoo Electronics Corporation Daikin Industries, Ltd. DATARIUS Technologies GmbH Daxon Technology Inc. DCA Inc. Deluxe Media Services Inc. Dolby Laboratories Inc. Dr. Schwab Inspection Technology GmbH Dreamer Co., Ltd. DTS, Inc. Eclipse Data Technologies Elpida Memory, Inc. Esmertec Expert Magnetics Corp. Falcon Technologies International FUJIFILM Corporation Fujitsu Ltd. Fujitsu Ten Ltd. Funai Electric Co., Ltd. GalleryPlayer Media Networks Gear Software General Members Gibson Guitar Corp. Global Machinery Co., Ltd. Gowell Electronic Limited Hie Electronics, Inc. Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd Horizon Semiconductor. IMAGICA Corp. Imation Corp. Info Source Multi Media Ltd. INFODISC Technology Co., Ltd. Infomedia Inc. Intersil Corporation Iwatsu Test Instruments Kenwood Corporation Kobe Steel Co. Ltd. Konica Minolta Opto Inc. Lauda Co. Ltd. Lead Data Inc. LEADER ELECTRONICS CORP Lenovo LINTEC Corporation Lionsgate Entertainment LITE-ON IT Corporation Macrovision Corp. Magnum Semiconductor, Inc. MainConcept AG MediaTek Inc. Meridian Audio Ltd. MIT Technology Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co.Ltd. Mitsui Chemicals Inc. Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd. Monster Cable Products Moser Baer India Limited MoSys Incorporated Must Technology Co., Ltd. MX Production Services NEC Electronics Corporation NEC Personal Products Ltd. Nero Netflix Inc. Newtech Infosystems Inc. NexWave Solutions NHK Technical Services, Inc. Nichia Corporation Nikkatsu Corporation NTT Electronics Corporation nVidia Corporation OC Oerlikon Balzer AG Omnibus Japan Inc. Onkyo Corporation Online Media Technologies Ltd. Ono Sokki Co., Ltd. OPT Corporation Optodisc Technology Corporation Origin Electric Co., Ltd. Osmosys SA Pico House Pixela Corporation Plannet Associates PoINT Software & Systems GmbH Pony Canyon Enterprise Primera Technology, Inc. Prodisc Technology Inc. Pulstec Industrial Co., Ltd. Q-TEC, Inc. Quanta Storage Inc. Quantized Systems Realtek Semiconductors Ricoh Co., Ltd. Rimage Corporation Ritek Corporation Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. ShibaSoku Co. Ltd. Sigma Designs Inc. Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation Singulus Technologies Sonic Solutions Sony BMG Music Entertainment ST Microelectronics Sunext Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., Targray Technology International Inc. TEAC Corporation Teijin Chemicals Ltd. Texas Instruments, Inc. The Cannery THX Ltd. Toei Video Company Ltd. Toho Company, Ltd. Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. TOPTICA Photonics AG Trailer Park UmeDisc Ltd. Universal Music Group, Inc. Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. VideACE Inc. Visionare Corporation Yamaha Corporation Yokogawa Electric Corporation Zentek Technology Japan, Inc. ZOOtech Ltd. Zoran Corporation	Acer Inc. ACSES Co.,Ltd. Ad Seeds Co.,Ltd Allion Test Labs, Inc. Almedio Inc. Alpine Electronics, Inc. Altech Ads Co. ArcSoft, Inc AudioDev AB B.H.A Corporation Bandai Visual Co. BEKO Elektronik Broadcom Corporation Canon Inc. CDN Corporation Clariant Japan CMC Magnetics Corporation Corel Corporation CyberLink Corp D&M Holdings Inc. Daikin Industries Daiko.co,ltd. Daxon Technology Inc. Dedicated Devices, Inc. DigiOn, Inc. Digital Site Corporation Disc Labo Corp. Dolby Labs, Japan Dr. Schwab Inspection Technology GmbH DT Japan, Inc. DTS, Inc. Ebistrade, Inc. Entertainment Network Inc. Exa International Expert Magnetics Corp. Finepack . Co.,LTD Flag,Inc. Fuji Photo Film Co. Fuji Plastic Co. Fuji Seiki Co. Fujitsu Limited. Funai Electric Co. Gear Software, Inc Gibson Musical Instruments GM Records Hamamatsu Metrix co.,ltd. Hitachi Corporation Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. Hoei Sangyo Co. IDE-AVA IMAGICA Corp. Imation Corp Info Source Multi Media Korea Ltd. Infodisc Technology Co. Intel Corporation Itri Jp Co., Ltd Justsystem Corporation Kadokawa Holdings, Inc. Kaleidescape, Inc. Kenwood Corporation Kinyosha Printing Co. Konica Minolta Opto, Inc. Lenovo Japan McRay Corporation Megan Media Holdings Bhd Microsoft Corporation Mitomo Co., Ltd Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd. / Verbatim Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. Moser Baer India Ltd MPO INTERNATIONAL Nero AG NetBlender, Inc. NHK Technical Services, INC. Nichia Corporation Nihonvtr Inc. Nikkatsu Corporation nixbu Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG Oerlikon Japan Co., Ltd. Omnibus Japan Onken Corporation Onkyo Corporation Online Media Technologies Ltd. Origin Electric Co. Outpost FX (AB) International Paramount Home Entertainment Pegasys, Inc. Pico House Co.,Ltd Pixela Corporation Plasmon OMS Sarl Pony Canyon Inc. PonyCanyon Enterprise INC. Proboxx, Inc Prodisc Technology Inc. Protron Digital Inc. Pryaid Records Inc. Pulstec Industrial Co. Q-Tec,Inc. Query inc Ricoh Co. Ritek Corporation Sanken Media Product Co., Ltd. Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation Sonic Solutions Sonopress GmbH Sumitomo Heavy Industries. Ltd Super Vision, Inc. Taiyo Yuden Co. Teac Corporation Teijin Chemicals Ltd. Toei Video Co. Toemi Media Solutions Limited Toho Company, Limited. tokyo laboratory ltd. Toppan Printing Co. Toptica Photonics AG Toyo Recording Co. Transmix Co. Trendy Corporation U-Tech Media Corp. Ulead Systems, Inc. Universal Pictures Vap Inc. Visionare Corporation Warner Home Video Inc.

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