Thanks to the efforts of Toshiba and Microsoft’s support campaign for HD-DVD, many more European film studios are adopting HD-DVD than Sony’s Blu-Ray. So far HD-DVD player sales have been ahead of Blu-Ray in Europe, although the launch of Sony’s Playstation 3 game console may change this. The late start and exurbanite cost of the PS3 in most European countries has put HD-DVD on track to win the format war in the territory. HD-DVD’s continuing market penetration in foreign countries will play a big role in determining the ultimate winner of this epic battle.

History in the Making

Since 1983, Sony has created one format that was adopted as a standard, the floppy disk. During that same period Microsoft has produced software compatible with every widely adopted format. This time their not putting their weight behind Blu-Ray. This lack of support is further illustrated by the release of the Toshiba produced Xbox 360 HD-DVD adapter. Media and hardware prices must come down to a reasonable level, then it will be up to the masses to decide.

Filed under: Microsoft, HD