As reported a few days ago (see “HD Format War Developments“), Warner Bros. Entertainment will be releasing its high-definition titles “exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year”. A few days later the Financial Times reported on rumors that Paramount was set to follow suit (see FT.com, “Paramount in HD blow“), though Bloomberg.com (see “Paramount Denies Report It Will Drop Toshiba’s HD DVD (Update2)“) reported shortly after that Paramount was denying those rumors, though the official statement was carefully worded:
“Paramount’s current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format,” Brenda Ciccone, a spokeswoman for Paramount.
Now there are rumors that Universal (which, along with Paramount, represents the two remaining major studios supporting the HD DVD format exclusively) may change its decision to back HD DVD. What follows is an excerpt from a story published by Variety yesterday (see “Blu-ray could win high-def battle“):
Daily Variety has confirmed that Universal’s commitment to backing HD DVD exclusively has ended. And Paramount has an escape clause in its HD DVD contract allowing it to release pics on Blu-ray after Warner Bros.’ decision to back that format exclusively.
Variety goes on to report that both Paramount and Universal have current HD DVD plans, and that Toshiba has communicated its intentions to market the player hardware through the end of 2008.
HD DVD has also experienced challenges in securing shelf space at some retailers, and rental giant Blockbuster has favored Blu-Ray Disc almost exclusively.
Also reported out of CES that HBO (a subsidiary of Warner Bros.) will also switch to the Blu-Ray format (see engadgetHD “HBO hops on bandwagon, also going Blu-ray exclusive“), with HBO Video president Henry McGee staing that HBO will also be “following the same policy as Warner Home Video”.
The Hollywood Reporter also published a story yesterday (see “New Line falls in line with Blu-ray“) stating:
New Line Home Entertainment spokesman confirms reports that the minimajor is following distributor Warner Home Video’s lead in abandoning HD DVD and releasing all future next-generation titles only in the Blu-ray Disc format
There are countless stories across the web about these developments, and regardless of the merit of the rumors and intentions of Universal and Paramount, HD DVD is getting an enormous amount of negative press and raising questions among consumers as to the viability of their platform. There is even one story on Gizmodo about consumers who picked up HD DVD players cheaply on Black Friday returning the players based on these news reports (see “Are Black Friday HD DVD Adopters Returning Players? [Updated: Toshiba Responds]“).
I will try to strike a balance in reporting on this topic and not reporting too much “tech news”, but this is an important series of developments for technology that will significantly impact our ability to research the authenticity of original props and wardrobe. I currently support both formats, but if a hobbyist is evaluating the two competing formats with an intention to opt for one over the other, it appears that Blu-Ray Disc is increasingly more viable.
Jason De Bord