Paramount drops support for Blu-ray moves to HD DVD

In another round of the format war, Paramount has dropped most of its support for Blu-ray and moved over to HD DVD. Only Spielberg films will continue to be released on both formats, Paramount has moved its DreamWorks Animation SKG, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films over to HD DVD exclusively.

DreamWorks Animation CEO said:

We believe the combination of this year's low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home.

This is a good result for HD DVD which should help advance it further over Blu-ray over the coming months, perhaps finally consumers won't be screwed over and we can have a quick end to the format war. This comes on the back of the Blu-ray promotion group in Europe admitting "(HD DVD) does have sales advantage for several reasons", we need a quick resolution.

Posted by Paul on 20th August 2007 in Technology

2 comments

Comment from: Mario Visitor

"(HD DVD) does have sales advantage for several reasons"

Paul, you can spin that statement however you like. I remember reading that their figures didn't include PC drives and PS3 sales in Europe.

As for Paramount, Paramount itself was releasing BD movies with higher quality transfers that outsold even their HD DVD counterparts. This couldn't be any more obvious as a cash grab by the studio and a desperation attempt by the HD DVD group. I smell Microsoft.

Comment from: Paul Member

Mario, if you need a conspiracy theory to explain your worldview, you're probably wrong.

Microsoft technology is on both discs, so they stand to lose no money directly from either side winning. In fact if Blu-ray won they could make a bit of money selling a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. Microsoft backed HD DVD primarily because it provided PC users with the most freedom to determine how they want to watch their media. Blu-ray DRM is too draconian.

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