Blu-ray victory takes further casualties

The success of the Blu-Ray format in the high-definition war has claimed another victim, it has emerged.

Along with the death of the HD-DVD format, dual Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are also falling by the wayside, with Samsung withdrawing plans to launch its second-generation player this spring, Yahoo! Tech reports.

DVD duplication industry members may be interested to read that Samsung decided to withdraw the BD-UP5500 because the window of opportunities for dual-format players has shrunk, PC World said.

"Meanwhile, retailers are slashing prices on existing combo players, making for some serious bargains," Yahoo added.

This means that those early adopters with a number of HD-DVDs can purchase a dual-format player at a cut price and not have to repurchase their old discs on the Blu-ray format.

CinemaBlend.com reports that Paramount has cancelled a number of upcoming HD-DVD releases, including Bee Movie, Sweeney Todd and There Will Be Blood and is now planning a Blu-ray release for these films.