HD DVD is dead. Woohoo!

I don't own either product, or even a widescreen tv. Like many of you, I'm sitting on the sidelines until a winner is declared (and for it to pop up on craigslist). Well, this morning Toshiba officially pulled the plug from HD DVD – and I couldn't be happier!

Sony, Panasonic, HP, and Apple are the main backers of Blu-ray. While Toshiba, Universal and Microsoft are on the other side. It's easy to see why I root for Blu-ray. Many of you may be curious as to how the competing formats came to a battle. Would it surprise you that Microsoft was behind it all? Sure, my opinion may have a slant, but if you read the article below, it will spell out exactly how Microsoft tried to use its monopolistic powers to force an inferior, proprietary format.

Origins of the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD War
Here are some excerpts:

In the late 90s, Apple began work with the ISO to deliver a successor to the MPEG-2 container used by DVDs. Microsoft proposed its own replacement for MPEG-2 based upon a new container file it called the Advanced Streaming Format.

In 1998, the ISO chose Apple’s proven QuickTime container format over Microsoft’s proposed ASF, dashing Microsoft’s plans to use its desktop monopoly power to simply brush aside technical superiority and establish control of the digital media industry by fiat.

By tying specialized new non-standard DVDs to its iHD and Windows Media file formats, Microsoft hoped to eventually earn royalty payments and licensing fees for every movie sold, just as it does for every PC. Additionally, this would also tie HD development into Windows, preventing playback on Linux, Macs, or any other platforms.

Bill Hunt of Digital Bits explained to InternetNews that Toshiba was ready to drop HD-DVD and join Blu-ray in 2005 until an unnamed company, which Hunt believes to be Microsoft, “pressured the company to stick with HD DVD since so much time and money had been invested in it.”

Need I convince you more about who's evil??

In the end, competition is still good for the consumers (unless you're a poor sap that bought HD DVD). Thanks to HD DVD, the prices of Blu-ray players (and Playstation 3) have dropped significantly. Some believe that now with HD DVD dead, Blu-ray prices will drop slower. I don't think so. I think they will continue to drop because of all the sub-$100 upconverting DVD players out there. My guess is that most people aren't going to repurchase their DVD library in HD format, so Blu-ray players won't necessarily be flying off the shelves (although in the wake of Toshiba's demise, Playstation 3 sales have now surpassed Xbox, and is only behind the Wii – article).

Upconverting DVD players (such as the Oppo) will play your standard movies in 720 and/or 1080 resolutions. Most of them only upconvert with HDMI connectors, but a few work with composite inputs also. Be sure you know which one you're getting before you buy. I myself am just learning about these features because our tv can play 1080i, but lack an HDMI port. So the hunt begins.

I'm still carefully researching my choices – and I'm far from being an expert on this subject, so don't totally rely on my opinions. If any of you have any recommendations, I'm all ears. There's no hurry, Mother's Day is still three months away so I have plenty of time to find a good deal on a PS3 or a widescreen tv :)

If you're one of the unfortunate early adopters that bought an HD DVD player, here's Engadget's Top Ten things to do with your now-defunct player.

And one last thing. If your DVD library is comprised of a binder of DVD-R discs, your compressed files may look pixelated on an HD screen. So an upgrade on resolution would actually be a downgrade on viewability.