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The high definition DVD war is over. The challenger has thrown in the towel and the victors arm is held aloft.

The announcement by Toshiba that its HD DVD format was to be abandoned has confirmed expectations that Sony's more expensive BLUE ray solution would prevail.

The two rival systems have been battling for two years now, initially racing neck and neck. The rot set in when Warner Brothers backed Blu-ray and said it would only issue films in that format in future.

One by one other content providers and retailers have added their vote for the Sony option.

The final nail in the HD DVD coffin appears to have been Wal-Marts decision to phase it out of their stores, announced earlier this month.

One hey reason for Sony getting the edge has been its development of Blu-Ray in its own Playstation 3, which means it had many more drives installed and working that its rivals.

As it makes its way to the failed formats Museums, to line up along-side that most famous exhibit, Betamax, those who have harvested in their own HD DVD player are left high and dry.

The one million people who bought one in good faith will have good reason to be miffed. Although prices came down from an initial almost £500 to £150, even that is a lot of money to have tied up in a player for which very few DVDs will now arrive on the shelves.

The key question today concerns plans for HD DVD units sitting in warehouses and on retail shelves. Will they be written off, or will they be advertised as bargains as sold to unsuspecting buyers? It should be the former, for they became obsolete last week - 25 February 2008.