Netflix Doesn't Want To Play With HD DVD Anymore

Kicking a man while he's down: that's what I would call today's announcement from Netflix. The giant internet movie rental company announced today that they would no longer support the HD DVD format, opting to rent Blu-Ray DVD as it's next gen optical format of choice. I know it's a bit tired now to say something is the death knell of HD DVD, since there have been so many signs as of late, but I really can't see HD DVD making much of a come back at this point.

What is more important about this announcement is that it is highly unlikely that Netflix would be paid of by the Blu-Ray Consortium to jump ship. This is a decision that was most likely made due to sagging demand. They probably were not seeing the profit from HD DVD, or saw the end coming near, and wanted to cut ties before they lost too much money. The big question now is if this will signal similar announcements from brick and mortar stores?

Netflix to Rent Only Blu-Ray Movies [PC Mag]
[via: Gearlog]