HD DVD is dead.

Here at Schmadget we've been watching with interest as the next generation video format war played out. It's been a bitter, tit-for-tat affair but it seems the end is finally nigh for HD DVD with Reuters reporting today that Toshiba are on the verge of conceding defeat to the Sony-backed Blu-ray and are planning to wind down the operation, set to cost them a few $100 million.

Support for HD DVD has been slowly ebbing away over the last few months as major studios and distributors withdrew their support for the ailing format, with Netflix and Wal-mart putting the final nails in the coffin this week.

Looking on the bright side this is great for the consumer as it means the uncertainty and confusion is now over. You no longer have to worry about backing the wrong horse. Of course, those that did and bought HD DVD players will now be left with an obsolete piece of technology. The curse of the early adopter.

The PS3 has to be credited with significantly boosting Blu-ray's market penetration and credentials, it was a big risk for Sony but it appears to have paid off, at least on this front. Although you could argue that is has cost Sony dear on the gaming front with the high price of the PS3 with integrated Blu-ray player allowing Nintendo to steal a massive lead with the less sophisticated and much cheaper Wii.

As consumers, we can only hope that the big electronics companies will learn from this and avoid such 'wars' in the future. This is sure to be the last big physical media format war but the new frontier is digital of course and, unfortunately, I'm sure we'll see many more formats, wars and interoperability issues as long as there are big, greedy companies around trying to control the markets in which they operate, without first considering the consumers that buy their products.