Format War

[DarthDVDS]

here is some more news in the format war

Here's an interesting wrinkle into the format war.

According to a story from DVD Town, the DVD Forum recently approved a 51GB version of the HD DVD format disc. This is a large upgrade from their current capacity of 17 GB that their dual-layer discs can hold. This 51GB disc will be a triple-layered disc, and will have a 1GB edge over Blu-Ray's 50GB dual-layered discs.

The interesting wrinkle part is that Disney, normally a big Blu-Ray supporter, voted for the upgrade at a DVD Forum meeting in September, even though, backers of opposing formats normally don't vote for upgrades to their opponents. The meaning of this vote is unclear, but, of course, speculation is abound, with some feeling that Disney is starting to sway towards HD DVD, perhaps trying to play both sides of the fence.


It looks like Warner Brothers just may have to choose a side after all.

Since Warner is the only studio who hasn't chosen a side in the HD DVD/Blu-Ray format war, it could end up throwing a monkey wrench into their plans for consolidation, dubbed Total HD. The studio had revealed in January their plans for Total HD, a disc that would support both next-generation formats, with HD DVD content on one side, and Blu-Ray content on the other side. They originally wanted to market Total HD for a September release, but that was later pushed to early 2008. Now, with Paramount switching exclusively to HD DVD, and every other studio in one camp or another, it seems like it's on the back burner.

"It would be tough to proceed, since we are the last man standing in both formats," said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video. "This only makes sense for studios supporting both formats, and since Paramount went the other way and retail didn't push the issue, one studio isn't enough for us to pull the trigger." Sanders went on to say that Total HD was "on hold."