EngadgetHD called my attention to this Blu-ray player feature matrix. I wouldn’t count on it being 100% accurate, since they have to compile the matrix from publicly available information, and vendors do release updates periodically. If you’re certain there is something incorrect in the matrix, contact them to let them know. And keep in mind these are current capabilities for existing players, or announced capabilities for players that have been announced but not yet released. For example, the PS3 is listed as a Profile 1.1 player, which it is today, while Sony has confirmed it will get a Profile 2.0/BD-Live update in the future.

EngadgetHD also made me aware of an article in Video Business about the shift in the retail world toward Blu-ray since Warner’s announcement. Trans World Entertainment, Newbury Comics, Video Buyers Group and Hastings Entertainment are beginning to emphasize Blu-ray over HD DVD.

Trans World operates over 800 F.Y.E. retail locations, and they will be giving more room to BD titles than HD DVD titles. Going forward they will be ordering ‘key’ new releases on HD DVD, while continuing to stock most of the released BD titles. Customers will be able to special order HD DVD titles that are not stocked.

Hastings Entertainment is continuing to stock HD DVD, but sees a shift to an emphasis on Blu-ray in their stores.

Newbury Comics plans to cut back on the ‘copy depth’ of HD DVD titles compared to BD. Before the Warner announcement they were ordering about half the copy depth on HD DVD as BD, and that will shift to 1/3 to as little as 1/4. And going forward they may only stock HD DVD at specific retail locations have have show strong HD media sales.

The Video Buyers Group supplies a large number of retail outlets. Due to the market confusion stemming from the format war roughly half of their members, 600-800 stores, have avoided offering either format. With Warner’s announcement and the perceived shift in the market to Blu-ray, VBG is preparing a new BD introduction package to help stores launch a new Blu-ray high-def section.

Major retailers, like Best Buy, are still selling both formats for the time being. But there is likely to be a natural shift toward Blu-ray simply due to more titles being available on the format as Warner, and other studios, stop releasing HD DVD. There will naturally be more titles on BD, which translates to more shelf space.

The last outlets to see a shift will likely be online, like Amazon.com. Since they don’t have the same shelf-space limitations as physical stores, and their unit costs for stocking the formats is much lower, they can continue to offer both formats the longest.

But there is a positive feedback loop forming now. With Warner, New Line, HBO, and other studios dropping HD DVD in the coming months, there will be a shift in available titles to BD. This will naturally create a further shift in media sales toward BD. As retailers shift shelf space to BD this will reinforce that shift in sales. And as the sales shift there is more incentive for retailers to increase their focus on BD, further reinforcing the sales shift. And as the shift increases and HD DVD sales suffer, there will be growing pressure on the studios to release their titles on BD.

As far as I’m concerned, it can’t happen soon enough. I want to see the industry backing one format, moving the technology forward.

In a column for Home Media Magazine, Thomas Arnold calls upon Toshiba, Universal, and Paramount to ‘knock it off’ and cede the format war to Blu-ray to unify the market.

With Warner Home Video dumping HD DVD, the format has the support of just two of the six major studios. It cannot win. At best, it can be a spoiler, but I’m hoping Toshiba, Universal and Paramount will take the high road and, for the good of the entire industry, bow out. Universal and Paramount, in particular, need to jump on the Blu-ray Disc bandwagon so we can go into the new year with a unified front and a unified mission: To educate consumers about the advantages of high-definition media and convince them the time to transition from standard DVD to Blu-ray is the day they bring that HDTV into their home.

I agree completely. At this point HD DVD cannot win. The only choice is between a prolonged war and a unified market that can move forward as one. Toshiba has done some good work on HD DVD hardware, work they could just as readily apply to Blu-ray and produce some top notch players. Their HD DVD player platform could very readily be converted to Blu-ray.

A unified HD format market would reduce consumer confusion and hesitation and help speed adoption. It would also encourage investment in production infrastructure, which has lagged as companies are worried about investing in plants for the wrong format. It is time to put the war behind us and work on improving the product offerings. At this point continuing the fragment the market is just sour grapes and being sore losers.

If Toshiba, Universal, and Paramount won’t do the right thing, the Best Buys and Wal*Marts of the world could end the war too. Someone, step up and stick a fork in HD DVD. Put it out if its, and our, misery.

Via Blu-ray.com.

With Warner’s switch to Blu, Universal is the largest studio releasing HD DVD, so there are a lot of eyes watching their every move. And there have been mixed reports over the past day.

First up, Variety is reporting that Universal’s exclusivity contract with HD DVD has expired. This leaves them open to releasing on Blu-ray. They’re committed to some HD DVD promotional efforts in the coming months, so they may not announce a change until after fulfilling those commitments. Via EngadgetHD.

Universal has stated: “Universal’s current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format.” Sure, that’s their ‘current’ plan, and I believe that. Note that a couple of weeks before making their Blu-ray exclusivity announcement Warner denied that a change was in the works. How was that worded? “We have made no decision to change our present policy which is to produce in both HD DVD and Blu-ray.” Present policy, current policy… same thing. Universal will release Blu-ray, count on it. But it may be a few months off yet before they announce anything.

The hits just keep on coming. Following Warner and New Line Cinema, HBO has announced that they’re also going Blu-ray exclusive, according to High-Def Digest.

Furthermore, despite NBC Universal having a fairly good sized pavilion at CES, Universal confirmed to High-Def Digest that they will not be making any HD DVD title announcements at CES, despite having been expected to do so. The previously couple of years have seen a number of Blu-ray and HD DVD titles announced during CES by the various studios, but this year the HD DVD camp has been silent, while the Blu-ray camp has talked up their future plans. It seems that the hD DVD studios have decided to consider their options before committing to any further announcements.

And the persistent rumors that Paramount and Universal will go neutral, and possibly switch to Blu-ray, just won’t go away. They got more fuel today from Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits:

We remain convinced that both Paramount and Universal are moving towards announcing Blu-ray Disc support soon, and we have real reason for that belief, not the least of which is that our sources in this situation are second to none - a fact which should be readily obvious by now. Announcements could happen tomorrow, they could happen next week, they could happen next month. We’d be surprised if it took longer than a month or two. We’re hearing that Universal may not announce until February at the earliest, as we’re given to understand that their contract period with the HD-DVD camp expires at the end of January.

There is even more at the site. Bill is well connected in the industry and he’s had the scoop on a number of issues in the past, so I wouldn’t write off what he has to say too easily. (Via EngadgetHD.)

And the LA Times is reporting that Warner’s move did trigger an exit clause in Paramount’s exclusivity contract with HD DVD.

Warner Bros.’ decision last week to start making movies exclusively for Blu-ray players, rather than HD DVD, triggered an “out” clause in Paramount Pictures’ contract with the HD DVD camp. An industry source said there was a significant possibility that Paramount would exercise that clause. It plans to decide within a month.

It seems they noticed something that I had made note of myself as well:

That enthusiasm appears to be shared by the show’s attendees, who flocked to the numerous Blu-ray displays on the show floor. The numbers were noticeably thinner at similar HD DVD displays.

The Blu-ray and HD DVD pavilions are neighbors - right across from each other. When I hit them on Tuesday I found the Blu-ray pavilion jam-packed. Just navigating through it was rough because of the people packed in watching all the demos, talking to reps, etc. And when they ran their regular demos, on a sweet 103″ Panasonic flat panel, they were well attended, with pretty much all the seats full and people standing around the edges. It was very lively and the energy level was up, even though it was late in the day and everyone was pretty tired by that point.

Conversely, the HD DVD pavilion felt like a ghost town. It was mostly empty. People just kind of meandered around - wandered in and out. There was nothing exciting to see. Unlike Blu-ray, showing off a slew of upcoming players, demos of upcoming titles, etc, there was nothing new in the HD DVD booth. The players on display were existing units. Frankly, the booth was boring. The energy and excitement level was zero - and it was very noticeable with the noise of the BD booth clearly audible from across the way.

To rub salt in the wound, just by coincidence (I asked) the demo area of the BD booth, with that 103″ screen, pointed right at the HD DVD booth. So the entire show all the demos BD is running on a regular basis are blasting the HD DVD booth. Ouch.

The Warner announcement seems to have started the snowball rolling down the mountain, and it is picking up more studios as it goes.

New Line has not only announced that they’re going Blu-ray exclusive, but it is effective immediately. All of their announced future HD DVD releases have been canceled. And their sole existing HD DVD release, Pan’s Labyrinth, will cease manufacturing and once existing stocks are depleted it will no longer be available. Via High-Def Digest.

Digital Playground, an adult film studio which only recently went neutral from being HD DVD exclusive has decided to fully back Blu-ray along with HD DVD on all of their high-def releases “until there is a clear-cut winner” according to a statement made before Warner’s announcement. One has to wonder if, in light of the announcement, they might consider Blu-ray a ‘clear-cut winner’ at this point. CE Pro via EngadgetHD.

And the Times Online out of the UK is reporting that as many as 20 of the studios that are part of the HD DVD Promotion group are looking to have their names removed from the roll.

Pony Canyon, a major Japanese music, animation and film studio and part of the giant Fuji Television media empire, said that although it was currently part of the HD-DVD Promotion Group, the decisions of US studios meant it would “choose Blu-Ray in the end”.

Several other Japanese firms – including content producers and electronics component makers – said that their support of HD DVD was “under review” and that they knew of many others in the same position. Others, who admitted that they had previously been waiting for “clear market momentum”, said that it had now probably arrived.

I think we’ll be seeing more HD DVD studios going neutral, as well as out-right defections by both HD DVD and neutral studios to the Blu camp now, especially if Paramount returns to being neutral - definitely if they go fully Blu. At this point any party who really wants to end the war should throw their weight behind Blu-ray. If studios, retailers, rental chains, etc, shunned HD DVD it would be hastened to its end. Times Online via AnimeOnDVD.

While this is happening, Microsoft seems to be hedging their bets with respect to the Xbox 360. They seem to be softening a bit toward the idea of the Xbox 360 supporting Blu-ray via an add-on drive:

“It should be consumer choice; and if that’s the way they vote, that’s something we’ll have to consider,” Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware, said when asked whether Microsoft would support a Blu-ray DVD accessory in the event that HD DVD failed.

I think they’re setting the stage to hedge their bets in case HD DVD does fail, as is looking likely. They can soften their stance, and then they won’t look as bad if they start supporting Blu-ray. From CNET News.com.

High-Def Digest contacted Paramount and reports that Paramount is continuing to support HD DVD, which is good news for that camp. However, any new HD DVD announcements they might have planned for CES are off. They will not be making any title announcements at CES. That’s not so good.

But then, the Financial Times, a very respected source, has something different to say:

Paramount is poised to drop its support of HD-DVD following Warner Brothers’ recent backing of Sony’s Blu-ray technology, in a move that could sound the death knell of HD-DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end.

They claim that Paramount has an escape clause in their HD DVD exclusivity contract which would allow them to resume releasing Blu-ray Discs should Warner go Blu-ray exclusive - which, of course, they have. Even if Paramount were to only return to neutrality, and not dump HD DVD completely, it would be another hard blow to HD DVD as it would leave Universal the only HD DVD exclusive studio.

And that’s if Universal remains in the HD DVD camp - they’ve declined to comment on their future plans since the Warner announcement, not even to confirm a commitment to HD DVD.

FT news picked up from EngadgetHD.

Following their Blu-ray exclusivity announcement they later clarified that their announcement did not cover titles from New Line, HBO, or the BBC, and that they would be making their own decisions and announcements. Well, it didn’t take long, Variety is reporting: “Warner sister company New Line confirmed it will shift allegiance to Blu-ray only as well.”

That’s unsurprising, but it is nice to have it confirmed. Now they can get to work on the super-deluxe Lord of the Rings Blu-ray collection, right?

Via EngadgetHD.

The HD DVD Promotional Group had scheduled a cocktail party and press conference for Sunday night, kicking off their presence at CES. But now, according to CNET News and EngadgetHD, the party has been called off as the HD DVD camp scrambles to cope with Warner’s bombshell Blu-ray announcement. The HD DVD Promotional Group sent this out in an email:

Notice of CES Press Conference Cancellation by North American HD DVD Promotion Group

Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD.

I have to think the timing of the Warner announcement is no coincidence. I’d bet the Blu-ray camp worked with them for maximum impact, increasing the damage to the HD DVD camp by making it a spoiler for all their PR efforts at CES. No matter what the HD DVD camp says or does this week, it will be overshadowed by this announcement. This is really no way they can put a positive spin on this. It is unsurprising that they’ve postponed their press conference, as this issue would dominate and they’d be unable to make any decent promotional ground.

This is not going to be a good CES for HD DVD. I think the BDA should swoop in and pick up the tab for the room and food at the Wynn and throw a wake for HD DVD!