High-definition optical disc format war
[2] The Blu-ray/HD DVD conflict resembled the earlier videotape format war between VHS and Betamax, partly because of Sony's strong involvement in both episodes.
Consumer-grade high definition players required an inexpensive storage medium capable of holding the larger amount of data needed for HD video.
[4] The breakthrough came with Shuji Nakamura's invention of the blue laser diode, whose shorter wavelength opened the door to higher density optical media following a six-year patent dispute.
[8] In March 2002, the forum voted to approve a proposal endorsed by Warner Bros. and other motion picture studios that involved compressing HD content onto dual-layer DVD-9 discs.
In an attempt to avoid a costly format war, the Blu-ray Disc Association and DVD Forum started to negotiate a compromise in early 2005.
[citation needed] One of the issues was that Blu-ray's supporters wanted to use a Java-based platform for interactivity (BD-J), while the DVD Forum was promoting Microsoft's "iHD" (which became HDi).
[17] At the end of June 2005, Sun Microsystems, the developer of Java, announced that the Blu-ray Association had chosen the Java-based BD-J interactivity layer instead of Microsoft's HDi.
[19] In a top-level meeting in July, Microsoft's Bill Gates argued that the Blu-ray standard had to change to "work more smoothly with personal computers".
[23] In a research report, Gartner analysts Van Baker, Laura Behrens and Mike McGuire wrote that if HP's proposal were accepted, Blu-ray would become the winner of the format war.
Acer, Alpine, Asus, HP, Hitachi Maxell, Kenwood, Lanix, LG, Lite-On, Meridian, Onkyo and Samsung,[30] provided non-exclusive support.
[40] But in August 2007, after supporting Blu-ray for over a year, Paramount announced it would release all high-definition content (except titles directed by Steven Spielberg) exclusively on HD DVD.
The companies together received about $150 million in cash and promotional guarantees, including a Toshiba HD DVD marketing campaign with a tie-in to Shrek the Third.
[45] On January 4, 2008, Warner Bros., which has the largest market share of DVDs, announced plans to drop HD DVD support completely as of the beginning of June 2008.
[48] At the time, analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates likened the price cut to the high-stakes blackjack bet of "doubling down" in an effort to increase market share and "win back the studios".
[50] Gartner analyst Hiroyuki Shimizu predicted that while the price cut might extend HD DVD's life somewhat, the limited title library would ultimately "inflict fatal damage on the format", leaving Blu-ray the victor by the end of 2008.
[52][53] Other small studios and producers moving exclusively to Blu-ray included National Geographic Society, Constantin Film, and Digital Playground.
[63] Sony's decision to incorporate a Blu-ray Disc player as a standard feature of the PlayStation 3 video game console also helped ensure the format's eventual triumph.
This equipment gap was a factor in Blu-ray titles (including the ones bundled with the PS3) outselling their HD DVD counterparts two to one in the United States and three or four to one in Europe.
[65] On that same day, Universal Studios announced it would release its titles in the Blu-ray Disc format, following two years of exclusive HD DVD support.
