Despite its victory in the format war, the Blu-Ray format still has a long way to go. In fact, standalone players still aren't doing as well as desired, because people still hold that the standard-definition DVD format is "good enough."

If that were the case, Blu-ray's victory in the format war was a shallow one. But things are picking up. A few days ago, it was reported that the PlayStation 3's ability to play BD is on the rise. The success of the PS3 is not only good for the console, but the format as well.

Now the NPD Group also reports that consumer awareness of Blu-ray is growing, and that more and more people intend to buy standalone players. The growing trend for HDTVs are actually laying the ground for Blu-ray.

Blu-ray sales are expected to increase in the following months, but again, the NPD says that the format will still take some time to usurp DVD as the leading format. Perhaps this is the next format war. Wouldn't that be ironic.