When will Universal Studios join the blu boat?

Question

With Blu-ray sales beating HD-DVD sales, and rising, why hasn't Universal decided to support Blu-ray, or go the way of Paramount and Warner and support both Blu-ray and HD-DVD?

Answer 1

I don't think it will matter much. Soon players that play both BluRay and HD-DVD will be the norm. The industry won't have to choose a standard. This isn't Beta versus VHS where the cassettes were totally incompatible not just by format but by form factor as well. A player has already been designed and due out shortly which will do both HD-DVD and BluRay. What about those who already bought a HD-DVD or BluRay only player? This doesn't necessarily mean that the early adopters will get shafted, as companies are also coming out with "Total" DVD formats which support HD-DVD, BluRay and standard DVD natively all on a single disc. There's room for both technologies, just as there was for both DVD-R and DVD+R. 73!

Answer 2

It all comes to how much the studio is willing to pay to produce these formats. Universal might currently find that it's financially better for them to produce HD-DVD and leave Blu-ray for a while since its production costs a lot more (and its players as well). However, I believe that when the consumer picks the new standard of the industry, studios will start to ditch the second format step by step, now whether Blu-ray will win over HD-DVD - only time will tell, who knows, they might both tie at the end...

You need to remember that Blu-ray discs sales were mainly up because Sony was giving them for free with PS3 units that they sold. I think we need to wait till next year to see who is really winning.