Despite losing Warner Bros. Entertainment's support, Toshiba claimed at CES 2008 that the HD DVD format is far from dead. Over the past two years, the CES event has been  dominated by the clash of the two next gen DVD formats, but this year it seems like Blu Ray will finally prevail

The HD DVD Promotion Group has canceled all the press events scheduled for CES, but Toshiba remained defiant, saying that it would continue to back its embattled format.

"We remain firm in the belief that HD-DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of consumers," said Akio Ozaka, head of Toshiba America Consumer Products, at a news conference. He said Toshiba was surprised by Warner's announcement, which came on Friday.

"We are especially surprised that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum that HD-DVD has gained in the US market and other regions," he said.

Last week, Warner Bros Entertainment, which previously released movies in both formats announced that starting with May 2008 will choose Blu Ray format over HD DVD.

"We were very disappointed with Warner Brothers' announcement," Ozaka said. "Sales of HD DVD were very good last year, especially in October to December."

Warner’s officials explained that the company wants to end consumer’s confusion over the two competing formats, a cause that lead to a slow mainstream adoption.

The high-definition DVD's are set to replace standard DVDs, which account for an 18-billion-dollar market in the US alone, and the format battle is one of the most crucial in the technology world. Its outcome could be fateful for Sony, which famously lost the last similar confrontation when its Betamax system lost out to the competing VHS videotape system.

The analysts considered that by canceling all the events, the HD DVD Promotion Group, which includes beside Toshiba, companies like Microsoft and Intel has send a signal of surrender.

"I think the war is over. HD-DVD has lost. It really is game-over for Toshiba and the other vendors," said Robin Harris, an analyst with Data Mobility Group.

Analyst Tom Coughlin said the decision had given Blu-Ray unstoppable momentum.

"This could be the beginning of a major, pivotal turning point in the high-definition format war," Coughlin said, explaining that the move would be important for the industry because many consumers have put off buying systems until the winning format emerges.

Akio Ozaka announced during his press conference at CES that North American sales of HD DVD players, including movie drives in Microsoft's Xbox 360, totaled 1 million in the last year helped by downloads of high-definition video onto personal computers equipped with the technology.

But Blu Ray drives are present in every PlayStation 3 sold by Sony and according to some estimates the Japanese company has sold close to 7 million PS3s worldwide, giving to its format a competitive edge over HD DVD.

Also, during the weekend New Line Cinema, another Time Warner’s company, announced its full support for Blu Ray format.