Netflix discontinues HD DVD rentals

Netflix discontinues HD DVD rentals
Netflix has posted on their site that beginning on December 15th they will no longer ship HD DVD titles, leaving Blu-ray as the consumer's only HD format of choice.

In February the company stopped purchasing HD DVD movies when Blu-ray won the HD format war but have kept renting out their current stock to those who wanted it.



On December 15th, if you have any HD DVD titles in your queue, they will be replaced with their standard definition counterpart.

There was no word on what Netflix will do with all the HD DVDs after the fact. Hopefully they will go on firesale.

Pic via Crunchgear


Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Nov 2008 21:00
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  • 17 comments

  • trexxus

    WoW!
    I had already thought that shipped had sailed awhile ago when netflix replaced my Hd dvd movies with just dvd.It's no biggie since I upgraded and gotten myself a blu ray player.

    14.11.2008 21:28 #1

  • Pop_Smith

    That kind of sucks, but it makes sense from a business stand point. Why stock HD DVDs that are no longer produced while DVDs still are?

    But it sucks for all of the HD DVD owners that still wish to watch and rent them.

    14.11.2008 23:34 #2

  • mike.m

    Lower the competition, and watch the cost for blu-ray rise up to even more ridiculous prices.

    14.11.2008 23:51 #3

  • kikzm33z

    I thought that this format war just ends up telling people which player to get. I never knew that it has the power to discontinue stuff :D

    15.11.2008 14:07 #4

  • Globe08

    Never understood why all those people pulled for the more expensive format with exorbant amount of needless space. the hd-dvd had plenty of space,same visual quality,cheaper prices for movies and players,same features,bonus add ons like the combo discs. Yet all these tards pulled for Sony to win out. Just goes to show the obvious reason Sony even begins to remain in gaming, the loyalty of their fanbase marches on regardless of the issue.

    16.11.2008 07:41 #5

  • kikzm33z

    Originally posted by Globe08: Never understood why all those people pulled for the more expensive format with exorbant amount of needless space. the hd-dvd had plenty of space,same visual quality,cheaper prices for movies and players,same features,bonus add ons like the combo discs. Yet all these tards pulled for Sony to win out. Just goes to show the obvious reason Sony even begins to remain in gaming, the loyalty of their fanbase marches on regardless of the issue.You never know if videos ever need to take up over 20GB of space. I guess Blu-Ray has 50GB for a reason, not just for the PS3.


    16.11.2008 18:15 #6

  • TBandit

    Yeah I do wish it was still around as competition so they could lower the prices on blu-ray and I dont see the point either of having 50GB of space on a disc for a movie unless you're getting like full seasons of shows.

    17.11.2008 02:37 #7

  • pensfan12

    Originally posted by mike.m: Lower the competition, and watch the cost for blu-ray rise up to even more ridiculous prices.
    I dont think so.
    Prices will fall not go up.

    17.11.2008 20:32 #8

  • AXT

    Originally posted by Globe08: Never understood why all those people pulled for the more expensive format with exorbant amount of needless space. the hd-dvd had plenty of space,same visual quality,cheaper prices for movies and players,same features,bonus add ons like the combo discs. Yet all these tards pulled for Sony to win out. Just goes to show the obvious reason Sony even begins to remain in gaming, the loyalty of their fanbase marches on regardless of the issue.Are you kidding? I went out an bought Kingdom of Heaven on Blu-Ray and the movie is about 37GB in size. Casino Royale was about 30GB, Iron Man was about 25 GB.Therefore if you don't know what you are talking about please keep your mouth shut. Stop bitching and buy yourself a bluray player, the war is over and this format will be around to another 10 years.

    18.11.2008 18:59 #9

  • Dragula96

    Quote:I went out an bought Kingdom of Heaven on Blu-Ray and the movie is about 37GB in size. Casino Royale was about 30GB, Iron Man was about 25 GB.What was the point of that post? Glad to see you figured out the size of the discs.

    Quote:Stop bitching and buy yourself a bluray player, the war is over and this format will be around to another 10 years.Doesn't sound like bitching to me, he just brought up some really good points.


    Quote:Never understood why all those people pulled for the more expensive format with exorbant amount of needless space.Because Blu-ray was "more" secure. HD DVD had less DRM, therefore the movie companies didn't really want to back this format.




    20.11.2008 11:04 #10

  • juankerr

    Originally posted by Dragula96: Because Blu-ray was "more" secure. HD DVD had less DRM, therefore the movie companies didn't really want to back this format.This is a common misconception.

    Both HDDVD and BluRay have the same basic DRM scheme which is AACS.

    BD+ is available for BluRay but not all studios use it. In fact only 20th Century Fox has insisted on using it.

    All the other studios use only AACS which is the same as DRM as that used in HDDVD.

    20.11.2008 11:59 #11

  • Dragula96

    Originally posted by juankerr: Originally posted by Dragula96: Because Blu-ray was "more" secure. HD DVD had less DRM, therefore the movie companies didn't really want to back this format.This is a common misconception.

    Both HDDVD and BluRay have the same basic DRM scheme which is AACS.

    BD+ is available for BluRay but not all studios use it. In fact only 20th Century Fox has insisted on using it.

    All the other studios use only AACS which is the same as DRM as that used in HDDVD.    Okay, but you can't tell me that the Blu-ray camp wasn't making a big deal out of BD+? They NEVER tried to use that as a selling point? That's all I ever read about, Blu-ray is more secure - BD+! And what about region coding? I don't beleive most of the first gen and second gen players where region free - I could be wrong. What about BD ROM-Mark?


    20.11.2008 14:35 #12

  • juankerr

    Originally posted by Dragula96: Okay, but you can't tell me that the Blu-ray camp wasn't making a big deal out of BD+? They NEVER tried to use that as a selling point? That's all I ever read about, Blu-ray is more secure - BD+!I never got that impression since it was only Fox that really insisted on BD+. It was mostly the anti-BluRay camp that was making all the noise about BD+.

    Originally posted by Dragula96: And what about region coding? I don't beleive most of the first gen and second gen players where region free - I could be wrong.According to bluraystats.com, of the 568 titles released on BluRay in 2008 (so far), 73.82 percent are region-free. Again, Fox is the one studio that insists on region-locked titles. Most releases from Warner, Universal, Paramount, Disney and even Sony are region free.

    Check bluraystats.com

    Originally posted by Dragula96: What about BD ROM-Mark?So what about BD ROM-Mark? It hasn't prevented the ripping of movies. Anyone with a BD drive and Slysoft has nothing to fear from AACS, BD+ or BD ROM-Mark.

    20.11.2008 14:55 #13

  • Dragula96

    Quote:So what about BD ROM-Mark? It hasn't prevented the ripping of movies. Anyone with a BD drive and Slysoft has nothing to fear from AACS, BD+ or BD ROM-Mark.Is this something that has yet to be implemented? Kind of like broadcast flags.


    20.11.2008 15:37 #14

  • juankerr

    Originally posted by Dragula96: Is this something that has yet to be implemented? Kind of like broadcast flags.BD ROM-Mark is already on every commercial BluRay disc.

    The BD ROM-Mark is not intended to stop access to the encrypted movie, it is intended to stop someone from making a bit-for-bit copy of the disc. If you don't have the equipment to put in the BD ROM-Mark a bit for bit copy cannot be made but ripping the contents of the disc would be no problem given the right hardware and software.

    20.11.2008 15:47 #15

  • ebayoyo

    SPAM removed

    22.12.2008 02:16 #16

  • jr47393

    jr47393- I don't pretend to drive in the fast lane like most of you do,
    but-I'm 79 years and still going and doing computers,..ect..
    If I had all the money that Sony has used, I would follow also. This has
    happened in the pass, and where money is involved, it will always be controlled that way.Sony lost money for the first time in 20 years in
    2009....Keep it going, I don't like them either...The best to you all..

    30.5.2009 22:09 #17

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