The high definition disc format war was avoidable, former Warner president claims

[Blu_Ray_UK2007]

The former president of Warner Home Video, Warren Lieberfarb, believes that the current war between Blu-ray and HD DVD could have been avoided if the two sides had been more forthcoming in sharing information and co-operation.

He even goes so far to say that the Blu-ray consortium was being run like a cartel, for the purpose of forcing a de facto standard on other manufacturers.

Speaking to Variety, he said that his hope was that all parties involved in next-generation DVDs had collaborated through the DVD Forum, created in 1995 to foster discussions among studios and electronics makers.

Andy Parsons, chair of the US promotion committee of the Blu-ray Disc Association, said that "the three leading companies (Sony, Philips and Matsushita) did not have any particular interest in presenting the Blu-ray format through the DVD Forum. They believed they had something very different from the DVD format."

Lieberfarb, who you may not be surprised to learn now consults for HD DVD supporters Toshiba and Microsoft, said that studios should have been less focused on creating 'bulletproof' copy-protection, and more fixated on getting the discs to market quickly.

Microsoft's involvement in HD DVD may have led to some concerns from studios about their potential dominance in the 'digital living room'.

The eventual winners may actually be non-physical media, streamed over the Internet, delivered via cable, and stored on massive hard drives at home.

-HDTVUK Article