14 DAY TRIAL // The HD DVD vs. Blu-ray war has taken another turn as Warner Bros Entertainment announced that they will exclusively release their high-definition DVD titles in Blu-ray format. The company officials claim that they have picked the Blu-Ray format as a strategic decision heavily influenced by the consumers themselves.
"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger," said Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer. "We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."
The Warner Bros. Company has issued a press release to announce that Warner Home Video will discontinue the HD-DVD line as of May 2008. Until then, Warner Home Video will first release its new titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray, and after that, HD- DVD versions will be made available after a "short window."
"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," added Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group President Kevin Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience."
Warner Bros has adopted the Blu-Ray format soon after Paramount and DreamWorks announced their support towards the HD DVD area, a decision that drove the Transformers" executive producer Michael Bay mad. "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me," said Bay early in August.
Toshiba was the first to publicly express its disapproval of the Warner Bros' strategy, and invoked the fact that "there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD." The Japanese computer manufacturer is a large supporter of the HD DVD format and Warner's decision could negatively impact over its entertainment business.