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21 Aug 2007
Movie studio Paramount has stated that it will only published its movies in the HD-DVD high-definition format.
The Viacom subsidiary is the exclusive distributor of DreamWorks Animation movies such as Shrek.
The agreement delivers a blow to the rival Blu-ray format in what is turning out to be a repeat of the VHS-Betamax standards war of the 1980s.
"We believe that [HD-DVD] is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience: families," DreamWorks Animation chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement.
"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."
HD-DVD is primarily backed by Toshiba and counts Microsoft's Xbox 360 as well as studios including Warner Bros and Universal Studios among its backers.
The Blu-ray Consortium is led by Sony and counts most of the major US movie studios among its backers.
The first players and disks for both formats started selling last year. Although volumes are very limited for now, Blu-ray outsold HD-DVD by 50 per cent in the first half of this year, according to Home Media Magazine.
A total of 3.7 million discs were sold over the period.
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Do you agree?
Bad move on their part...
Blu Ray is superior to HD in terms of technology and quality of viewing, the only reason Paramount amoungst other studios are not backing the Blu Ray format is because they have struck a deal with Microsoft who is currently the largest supplier of HD DVD players with one built into their games console the xbox 360. Blu Ray is the superior format, and a solid investment for any movie lover. One year from now, I doubt HD discs will even be in production.
Posted by: Mike 28 Dec 2007
Good news
I don't like Blu ray and their business ethics but that's a long story, anyway back to the subject.. I don't see why I as a consumer should pay more to watch movies on a blu ray player when HD DVD players offer the same experience and sometimes offer more content and features for less, this is good news from paramount as it levels out the playing field a little in regards to studio support, Maybe blockbuster ought to reconsider (they have already lost dizmczimy businesss in the uk from not stocking HD DVD).
Posted by: MK 22 Aug 2007
150.000.000 USD
is what these 2 companies are getting from Microsoft for doing this. Pretty pathetic and short-sighted move. HD DVD is still a dead format, which has already lost from Blu-Ray. They will soon be forced to revise their stance...
Posted by: steve 21 Aug 2007