The latest home theater format war was over before it even began.

In the battle that seemed to be shaping up between high definition formats made by Toshiba and Sony, Sony’s (SNE) Blu-ray disc quickly came out on top over Toshiba’s HD DVD.

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It was nothing like the epic war between the original home theater formats that pitted Sony’s Betamax tape against JVC’s VHS format -- a battle that lasted from the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. 

The most recent competition was more of “a format skirmish,” according to Joshua Fruhlinger, managing editor of the gadget blog Engadget.

Both Blu-ray and HD DVD were sold at all the major electronics retailers, including Best Buy (BBY) and Circuit City (CC), when they came out in 2006. But at $1,000 or more a piece, they proved too costly for most consumers.

Also disconcerting was the fear that the technology might not remain relevant for long.

“A few consumers were definitely leery about purchasing something that could become obsolete so quickly,” said Andre Sam, a Best Buy salesman who specializes in home theater systems at a New York-based store.

The differences between the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats were minimal. “I was recommending both to consumers up until very recently,” said Sam.

For a while, it was unclear which format would come out on top. Thus, some electronics makers started making Blu-ray/HD DVD combination players to hedge their bets.

But the battle ended abruptly when Time Warner’s (TWX) Warner Studios, which has the largest movie catalogue of all the major movie houses, announced earlier this year it would distribute its movies exclusively on Blu-ray.

The announcement came a week before the all-important 2008 Consumer Electronics Show.

“Everyone was waiting for the big claims these respective formats were going to make, and Toshiba just wasn’t able to turn it around after Warner’s decision,” Fruhlinger said.

Toshiba announced it would discontinue manufacturing HD DVD players a month after Time Warner’s decision.

While Time Warner certainly struck the fatal blow against the HD DVD, there were other reasons the format didn’t take off.
For example, while Blu-ray players were more expensive than HD DVDs for consumers, the Sony disc costs movie studios about one-third less than the Toshiba product.

Blu-ray also holds more data per disc than HD DVD, which made it easier for movie studios to put more extras on their discs.

Another factor was Sony’s decision to use Blu-ray with their PlayStation 3 video game consoles. Consumers could purchase the $400 video game console, which would also double as a home theater system playing Blu-ray discs.

“Sony was clever in putting it together,” Sam said. “While it cost more for them upfront, they were certainly looking ahead.” Microsoft, which supported the HD DVD format, sold an attachment to its Xbox 360 game console that played HD DVDs. But Fruhlinger said it wasn’t the same.

“There’s a difference between having to purchase an attachment that you have to install versus something that arrives compatible out of the box,” he said.

Now that Sony is the sole format for next generation home theatre systems, both Fruhlinger and Sam said the costs for a Blu-ray player will drop in price considerably in the next year or so.

Blu-ray players have fallen quite a bit from their original prices, and are now around $300, Sam said.

For consumers who did purchased a HD DVD player, many electronics retailers are providing incentives to sell or trade them in for a Blu-ray player.