It was really starting to look like Blu-Ray was beginning to win the HD format war. Today, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG surprised the film industry by dropping support for Blu-Ray and announced exclusive support for HD DVD. This is very reminiscent of the VHS vs. Betamax format war of the 1980s. Is this a lethal blow after a long battle or merely a minor setback for Blu-Ray?
The exclusive commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment. Movies directed by Steven Spielberg will not be affected since Spielberg controls his own movies.
The decision is surprising because Blu-Ray movies have been outselling HD DVD movies 2-to-1 for most of 2007. Only last week Reuters reported on the exact figures. 2.2 million for Blu-Ray versus 1.5 million for HD DVD.
Let’s have a look at a quick comparison between the two formats.
Blu-Ray
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HD DVD
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Sadly this means no Blu-Ray version of Transformers.
Paramount has posted their official press release.
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