# The High-Def Battle **URL:** \ **Category:** PittSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [May 20, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/the-high-def-battle/190041 "2007-05-20T20:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 22
**Author:** ![imported\_renegade1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@imported\_renegade1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/imported_renegade1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 5:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/the-high-def-battle/190041/22 "2007-06-21T05:41:54Z")
> [@I faught the law, and the, law won V. carlise](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/i-faught-the-law-and-the-law-won-v-carlise/30879/19): > > Blockbuster to Rent Out Blu-Ray Only > > VICTORY!!! In a move that many would call absolutely crippling to HD-DVD, the largest rental chain in America, Blockbuster, has officially announced that they will not be renting out HD-DVDs. Their HD format of choice is the format that most have ended up choosing: Sony’s Blu-Ray. As a conducted test of preference, Blockbuster has been renting out both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies in 250 stores scattered across the country for the past nine months. > > The results witnessed were that Blu-Ray rentals eclipsed that of HD-DVD by a ratio of over 7:3 - over 70% of HD rentals were Blu-Ray (which is also a close reflection of the format’s sales). Those 250 stores will keep the available HD-DVDs (though very likely in limited quantities), but the remaining 1450 stores will exclusively feature Blu-Ray as of this July. > > “The consumers are sending us a message. I can’t ignore what I’m seeing,” Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster", told The Associated Press. “When you walk into a store and see all this product available in Blu-ray and there is less available on HD DVD, I think the consumer gets that,” Smith said. > > Likewise, Smith cited the release of the PlayStation 3 last year as a momentum boost for the format. Most importantly though, the fact that Blu-Ray has the support of every major studio (with the exception of Universal), is the deciding factor in Blockbuster’s announcement. The company is much better of supporting a product that has an enormous assortment to choose from, as opposed to a constricted one. > > “It will help shift the balance toward Blu-ray, clearly,” said Richard Doherty, president of The Envisioneering Group, a research company. > > Clearly the North American HD DVD Promotional Group wasn’t too happy about this, criticizing Blockbuster as being shortsighted. They believe that Blockbuster is only looking at the performance of HD-DVD’s first three months of 2007, which were abysmally bad, and that has skewed their perception of the format. The group cites movies such as “The 40-Year Old Virgin” and “The Matrix” trilogy as boosting the format’s sales in players and performance. > > “I think trying to make a format decision using such a short time period is really not measuring what the consumer is saying,” said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the group. > > It seems like the HD-DVD group is grasping for straws here. Realistically, for every two major motion pictures that debut exclusively for HD-DVD, Blu-Ray sees a good 15. Where as HD-DVD is relying on the success of a select few, Blu-Ray isn’t faced with that struggle. And with Sony slashing prices of Blu-Ray players by half, down to $500 and with the impending PS3 price-drop, the gravestone has been written for HD-DVD. It’s time to break ground. wait didn’t block buster also support Beta max??? and that flopped. So it might turn out like Beta did and HD-DVD may come out on top. not a fan of what sony does except for the Playstation that’s one thing I like from them. --- _[View the full topic](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/the-high-def-battle/190041)._