| Warner Brothers Joins Blu-ray Disc Association |
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| Home Theater News Blu-ray Software News | |
| Written by Naitze Teng | |
| Friday, 21 October 2005 | |
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Warner
Brothers announced that it has joined the Board of Directors of the
Blu-ray Disc Association. The studio had supported Toshiba’s HD-DVD
over Sony’s Blu-ray but, following a similar announcement by Paramount
earlier this month, it is now backing both formats. "Consumers will
soon be able to enjoy a large selection of catalogue favorites and
contemporary hits from Warner's vast library on the Blu-ray format,"
said Jim Cardwell, President, Warner Home Video.
Toshiba was quick to respond with a statement saying “Toshiba and Warner Bros. continue to collaborate closely toward the commercial launch of HD-DVD. We understand Warner Bros. continues to strongly support HD-DVD”. Like Paramount, Warner is hedging its bets, making a decision that essentially eliminates its need to choose between the two formats. This move shifts studio support even more in favor of Blu-ray (also backed by Sony, Fox, Disney and Lions Gate). The only studio to back HD-DVD exclusively is Universal. Mike Dunn, president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment commented on Warner’s move by saying “These latest developments are the categorical shift needed to avoid a format war and insure the successful launch of Blu-ray and secure the future of high-definition pre-recorded media”. But just sitting on the fence is not enough to avoid a format war. Companies need to take action for a compromise to be reached, much like HP did by asking the Blu-ray Disc Association to add technologies supported in HD-DVD to the Blu-ray specification. Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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