It's official: Toshiba, the leading partner in the HD DVD camp, has waved the white flag. The next generation DVD format war is over. Blu-ray wins.

The move to stop production of HD DVD players and recorders was an "agonising decision", according to Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida, but one that the company had to take after "judging that there is no way of winning the competition."

What followed was to some extent inevitable. Blockbuster, Netflix and Wal-Mart all dropped support for HD DVD, and Best Buy also said it would favor Blu-ray. The old adage, "follow the money", which in this case means content, applies.

"It shows what a highly competitive market it is. When it comes to video, it is the person with the most content that wins," says Gartner analyst Paul O'Donovan (BBC News).

The technical and commercial superiority of each format - HD DVD and Blu-ray - is likely to be debated for years, as is whether the consumer drew the short straw in all of this. But the fact remains that Blu-ray will be the disc format of choice going forward. (I'm feeling a little smug at this point having recently bought a PlayStation 3 with its built-in Blu-ray drive - for once I backed a winner!).

However, a much longer battle lies ahead - HD downloads - leading some to argue that the next-gen DVD format war is irrelevant. In the future consumers won't buy physical media, they'll purchase and download it over the Internet.

True but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

High definition downloads from services such as iTunes, XBox Live and Vudu are in their infancy, and the competing standards of HD DVD and Blu-ray pale into insignificance compared with the many formats and DRM schemes that make up digital downloads. Moving to HD downloads also puts a greater strain on broadband speeds, bandwidth and storage. The latter isn't an issue for rentals but for those who like to own their movie collections, be prepared to bulk up on hard drive space.

Of course, the biggest lesson that the burgeoning HD download market can learn from Blu-ray's success, is also its biggest hurdle. Content wins. And this is where every HD download service currently falls short. Until the major studios treat HD downloads on par with physical media in terms of title availability and release windows, consumers will continue to vote with their wallets for DVDs and now Blu-ray.

This post is syndicated from last100, our digital lifestyle blog covering Internet TV, digital music, Mobile Web and more. You can subscribe to last100 here.

The first major blow to the HD DVD format was when Warner Bros decided to release all of its high definition titles exclusively in the Blu-ray format. According to Barry Meyer, the Chairman & CEO, the move was a "strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want." They will continue to release HD DVD titles only until May 2008.

The second major blow to Toshiba and the HD DVD camp was when we heard the news that first Blockbuster, and then a few days later Netflix, jumped ship and went exclusively Blu-ray for all of their hi definition content. Considering that Blockbuster and Netflix are the two largest DVD rental businesses in the US, it's easy to see that this will result in a major market share reduction for HD DVD.

Recently two more blows for HD DVD came. Firstly, Wal-Mart - the largest retailer in the entire world with massive reach - picked Blu-ray. By June of this year, you will see Blu-ray players, Blu-ray movies, Blu-ray converts, and lots more at your local Wal-Mart.

Secondly, news has come out that Toshiba itself has realized that Blu-ray is going to be the gold standard for high definition DVDs; and is planning to slowly kill off the HD DVD format in the months ahead. The Blue-ray onslaught was simply too much for Toshiba and its major supporter, Microsoft, to handle.

Even with huge price slashes recently - HD DVD players as low as $119 - Blu-ray has been unstoppable with an almost 70% share of all HD movies sales. Of course, it doesn't help HD DVD that the Sony PS3, which is also selling well, is a Blu-ray only disc player.

As we see it, the battle was fought well by both sides - but it's now time for the HD DVD camp to admit that it has lost. Let consumers enjoy one HD technology without any confusion.

What are your thoughts on the high definition format battle?

Written by Aseem Kishore, a technology enthusiast and lead blogger for Online-Tech-Tips.