Another day and another HD-related development. This time Variety is reporting that Universal is to become platform neutral, leaving their exclusivity agreement with Toshiba’s HD DVD format. This would leave Paramount as the only major exclusive backer to HD DVD, although rumours have circulated that they too are preparing to jump ship."Universal's commitment to backing HD DVD exclusivity has ended," Daily Variety reported on Wednesday. But, it added, neither studio is "ready to throw in the towel immediately".
Partners to Warner Brothers, New Line and HBO, have confirmed that they will also be following the lead of Warner Home Video. New Line is famous for the Lord of the Rings franchise, whereas Shoot 'em Up, Hairspray, and Rush Hour 3 were big movies in 2007. HBO are best known for the critically and commercially successful American TV series, The Sopranos.
Finally, Jeff Thill, director of video operations for the Hustler Video Group, reckoned Blu-ray’s royalty fees was "a little bit of a headache". However, Thill gave the format the nod due to its importance to the video game market. Although Hustler has released a couple of HD DVD movies, the group expects the majority of its high-definition output in 2008 to be on Blu-ray.
Advertisement
Related Stories
- Vendors team up to create universal 3D standard Aug 10th 2011 at 3:42PM
- Publishers call for universal e-reader file format Jun 1st 2010 at 12:37PM
- Samsung to offer Blu-ray bundle May 11th 2010 at 12:01PM
- Logitech premieres new remotes and speaker Mar 2nd 2010 at 4:41PM
- CoolIT launches GPU cooling system Oct 20th 2009 at 11:55AM
- Toshiba embraces Blu-ray Aug 10th 2009 at 10:00AM
- Toshiba backs standard DVD Aug 18th 2008 at 11:05AM
- Microsoft reiterates Blu-ray opposition Jul 30th 2008 at 10:57AM
- Toshiba readies fresh HD disc assault Jun 2nd 2008 at 1:43PM
- Blu-ray prices soar Mar 13th 2008 at 11:50AM
