With this week’s announcement of Wal-Mart’s adopting of Blu-Ray coupled with Best Buy recent announcement to aggressively market the format, it is clear that the so called “hi-def format war” is over. Toshiba, the big guns behind the competing HD-DVD format, has announced it will be ceasing its production of HD-DVD players.

Myself, I am excited that a clear winner has finally been decided. Ever since I bought my hi-def TV a few years back, I like so many, many others have been waiting for some kind of home video upgrade of the DVD to take advantage of all those new pixels. When it became apparent that there was going to be split in the marketplace, I think all home theater enthusiasts gave a collective sigh. We knew what was ahead. Without a standardized format to deliver all that hi-def goodness, we knew we were going to have to wait even longer, and worse possibly be left out in the cold if we gambled on the wrong format.

This past summer, I took the plunge and bought a PS3. While I knew that once Metal Gear Solid 4 was released I was going to buy a PS3 anyway, the real reason I bought it then was I wanted to taste a slice of hi-def heaven. Once “Ratatouille” was announced for Blu-Ray only, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I haven’t bought any new DVD’s for my collection in probably over a year knowing that someday I’ll want a hi-def version, and I REALLY wanted “Ratatouille”. So a PS3 it was for me. Nevertheless, I was and still am a bit gun shy with buying Blu-Ray titles. At the time, I was afraid of the BR format being wiped out by HD-DVD, and they are still a bit pricey to just pick one up on a whim.

One of our regulars, Invisible Swordsman, made a comment in our forums, “with no competition they [Sony] have no reason to lower prices”.

There most certainly WILL be competition. What was being decided was a standardized format…NOT a particular player. Now that there is a clear “winner” more and more hardware manufacturers (Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Denon, Onkyo, possibly even Toshiba itself) will jump in and begin producing BR players. Over time, the tech will get cheaper to manufacture the parts, and the players will get cheaper in retail as the major brands compete with each other to add new features, specs, etc. This is why DVDs took off like they did. There was a standardized format: the MPEG2 compression used to author the discs. DVD players got cheaper because there are so many other manufacturers making them.

Despite now being the HD format of choice, I still don’t see this happening anytime soon with Blu-ray just yet. The jump to a hi-def disc will only be enjoyed by those who have a hi-def TV…which is a small percentage at this point, but is steadily growing. A Blu_ray player hooked up to a standard TV is over kill and is a waste of money. You won’t be able to tell the difference between that and a DVD.

As such, DVD’s still offer great quality and affordability to the vast majority of people out there. Think about it. How many means of watching a DVD do you have in your home right now? You probably have a DVD drive in your computer, a DVD player hooked up to your TV, maybe even a portable player for road trips, and maybe you own a PS2 or Xbox. All of these are means of watching a regular ol’ DVD.

Additionally, anyone who recently made the jump to an HDTV, will now find new life breathed into their currently existing DVD library. While a DVD suddenly shows its flaws on an HDTV, it can be enjoyed in its full and correct aspect ratio with no black-bars on many titles, and it still offers really great Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The perceived quality of a Blu-Ray disc versus a standard DVD may not be so great in the mind of a casual consumer.

Still, to many (including myself) the fact that a standard has been settled for a hi-def disc for home theater use is awesome. The evolution of a hi-def disc can now continue, and the market can now grow. I feel confident now shopping for Blu-Ray discs as just today I was browsing that section at my local Best Buy. I did a few PUPD’s. The cost is still an issue for me, but I’m going to make a guess and say that by this Christmas shopping season, we will start seeing an overall drop in price on BR players and titles. I certainly plan on buying a stand-alone player when they get a bit more affordable to take some of the load off my PS3.

While I was looking over a few choice movies today at that Best Buy, I noticed a few guys looking at some movies on the other side of my isle. They were looking in the HD-DVD section. I should have given them a word of warning that they were looking at a dead format, but didn’t. I’ll do so now:

Blu-Ray is the HD format of choice, my friends!