20 November 2007 @ 14:53Total HD dual-format discs ditched?

Warner Home Entertainment, the only studio distributing movies in both HD DVD and Blu-ray, has put their plans for a dual-format disc on hold. Although their plans were not for any sort of proprietary technology, but simply to encourage consumer adoption of the new HD disc format, the technology received little support from other studios and manufacturers.

“The short answer is, for the moment, it [Total HD] is on hold,” explained Jim Noonan, SVP of Strategic Promotion and Communication for Warner Home Entertainment Group. “We’re the only studio producing content in both formats. If we were to put out Total HD with just our titles, it wouldn’t really provide the solution to our retail partners that it was intended to provide. If anything, at this point, it would further complicate their life, because there would be another product looking for shelf space. Our job is not to further complicate the lives of our retailers.”

“Total HD was something that we offered up to the industry as a solution that would address buyer hesitancy, and the concern a consumer might have about the possible obsolesce of the hardware they were buying. We have no proprietary interest in Total HD. There is no patent we’re involved in, and there is no monetary reward for us if another studio decides to put out titles on Total HD. It was offered purely as an industry solution — and it is still a good and viable solution that has no expiration date.”

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