Netflix Abandons HD DVD in Favor of Blu-ray

For me, the death knell has sounded. Netflix is abandoning HD DVD. That's the high-definition competitor to Blu-ray, which gained the upper hand last month with overwhelming support from Hollywood studios.

But I took comfort that I'd still have movies to watch on my HD DVD drive. I recently bought the drive even though I knew it would most likely be an eventual dead-end. But at only $100, it seemed worth it. That's partly because I could still watch HD DVD movies while they lasted, particularly as I didn't have to buy them. I could just get them from Netflix.

Now that won't last too long, either. Here's what Netflix said today in a note to HD DVD users: "While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements."

Oh well. The investment isn't a complete loss. The player does a good job at upconverting standard-def disks to look good on an HDTV. And it will play high-def disks that I make myself in a standard DVD burner—something a Blu-ray player can't. But stick a fork in: HD DVD is cooked, and even sooner than I'd hoped.

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