Toshiba Wins Support for HD DVD from 4 Film Studios

[Khephra]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp. said on Monday it had won support for the HD DVD optical disc standard from Warner Bros. Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema, advancing its cause in the battle for the next-generation DVD.

Toshiba, with NEC Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., is promoting a next-generation DVD technology called HD DVD, while Sony Corp. and several other giants of the electronics, computer and movie industries are backing a competing standard dubbed Blu-ray.

Support from U.S. film studios is seen as vital in this format battle, just as it was when the VHS standard prevailed over Sony's Betamax two decades ago.

"After extensive research and careful consideration ... we have determined that HD DVD has the highest quality of performance and offers key advantages in the areas of durability and reliability," Warner Bros. said in a statement.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=industryNews&storyID=6940943

[papau]

1. So higher storage capacity Blue Ray loses to HD DVD?

The Sony-backed Blu-ray disk can hold about six times the capacity of existing DVDs, while the Toshiba's HD DVD can hold about four times as much as standard DVDs.

Granted that Blu-ray requires new plant and equipment to produce, and would be more expensive (including the blank disc) at the outset to produce than standard DVDs. And players of disks based on Toshiba's HD DVD technology would be able to play current DVDs as well as those in high-definition.

Sounds like a BETA REPLAY?

[Touchdown]

2. Actually, that's only 3 studios.

New Line is owned by Time Warner. It's sort of a step-brother to Warner Bros. They were going to shut it down for being a money loser, because you can only make so much money off of Freddy Kruger, then Lord of the Rings was released.:D

Not a big suprise though. Toshiba and Warner Bros. were partners in inventing DVD. Warner's Warren Lieberfarb came up with the idea. They both own the rights to the format, get royalties everytime the logo appears (even from Sony, who after years of raking it in on the CD royalties, got pissed they have to pay now...hence "Blu-Ray"...and not any name with DVD in it) so it goes without saying that Warner would of course approve of Toshiba's disc.

This seems like old news though. I thought they confirmed this months ago.