"With more and more companies backing the Blu-ray format, including MGM and Warner who both recently started backing Blu-ray for movies, it looks like it has enough support and momentum at this point to ensure Hollywood chooses it as its preferred standard for high definition content. Sony even reckons that the battle has ended and that was before MGM announced its support. On the other hand, HD DVD is not likely going to disappear either, since even if it fails to do well in the standalone device market, it is expected to have enough support to keep it going well enough in the PC market.

Although Microsoft is backing HD DVD and will offer native support for this format in its upcoming operating system, the entertainment industry is likely to have the most impact on which side succeeds in become the successor. For example, as Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 will incorporate Blu-ray support as well as the playback of Blu-ray movies, the success of Sony's PlayStation 1 & 2 series may be enough to push sufficient PlayStation 3's on the market to ensure Blu-ray succeeds, since anyone with a PS3 will in turn effectively have a standalone player to play Blu-ray movies." [more]