Warner Bros. dumps HD DVD, goes solely Blu-ray
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Warner Bros., the only major movie studio to release titles on both of the rival high-definition video disc formats, has decided to drop HD DVD and exclusively back Blu-ray Disc, it said Friday.
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES  - Time Warner Inc's   Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release  high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's  Blu-ray format,  dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's  rival HD DVD  technology.
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Once the backer of both high-def DVD formats, Warner Bros. is now exclusively backing Blu-ray Disc. Warner Bros. is Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18% to 20% of sales in the United States.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Friday said it plans to exclusively back the Blu-ray high definition movie format, the latest blow to the rival HD DVD camp backed by Toshiba Corp.
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Stating that the industry has already picked a winner in the battle of next-generation DVD superiority, Netflix announced Monday that it will stock only Blu-ray discs and drop the HD DVD format. Since the first high-definition DVDs came on the market in early 2006, Netflix has offered both formats.&quot;We&#39;re now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def,&quot; Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, said in a statement. According to the statement, the company cited the decision by four of the six major studios to use only the Sony-developed format.Netflix&#39;s move comes about a month after&#160;Warner Brothers announced its shift to Blu-ray, joining three other major studios. Only two major studios, Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, publish in the HD DVD format.Netflix subscribers can still rent the remaining HD DVD titles until the discs&#39; natural life cycles take them out of circulation. The company plans to fully abandon HD DVD by the end of the year.Netflix offers more than 90,000 DVD titles, over 400 of them are Blu-ray.&#160;
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Studio insufficiently interested in 'glu-ray disc' Will Glu-ray Disc ever make it to market? It's certainly looking less likely that the Blu-ray and HD DVD single-disc combo product from Warner Home Video (WHV), dubbed TotalHD, is going to happen.â¦
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc has decided to  exclusively sell high-definition DVDs in the Blu-Ray format,  dealing what could be a crippling blow to the rival HD DVD  technology backed by Toshiba Corp.
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Time Warner's Warner Bros  studio plans to announce it will release next generation DVDs  on Sony Corp's Blu-ray format exclusively, two sources familiar  with the plans said on Friday, dealing a big blow to Toshiba  Corp'sHD DVD format.
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Fears of a deteriorating U.S. economy  and falling DVD industry sales helped drive Warner Bros's  decision to back Sony's Blu-ray next generation DVD format  exclusively, a top executive told Reuters on Monday.
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The backers of Blu-ray discs predict victory in the format wars with HD DVD after Warner Bros backed them.
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InfoWorld - The decision byÂ Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray DiscÂ for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format wars be over?
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Toshiba Corp  said on Sunday its HD DVD high-definition video format is not dead despite being dealt a big setback by Warner Bros studio's decision to exclusively back Sony Corp's  rival Blu-ray technology.
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Toshiba Corp insisted on Sunday that  its HD DVD high-definition video format is far from dead  despite being dealt a major setback by Warner Bros studio's  decision to exclusively back Sony Corp's rival Blu-ray  technology.
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General Electric Co's   Universal Pictures, one of a few studios using the Toshiba  Corp-backed  HD DVD format, said on Tuesday it will  switch to the rival Blu-ray format now that Toshiba has  officially pulled the plug on HD DVD.
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Ditches HD-DVD camp Warner Bros is abandoning HD-DVD to settle down in monogamous bliss with Sony's Blu-ray. The company today cited "consumer demand" for its decision to stop selling HD-DVD-format movie titles at the end of May. It is the only movie major to sell high-definition DVDs in both formats, but has already tired of playing the field.â¦
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Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. retailer, on Friday said it would phase out the sales of HD DVD offerings and exclusively offer high-definition Blu-ray hardware and DVDs by the middle of this year.The decision was based on U.S. customers&#39; preference for Blu-ray movies and hardware in purchases, Wal-Mart said in a statement.The retailer will phase out HD DVD offerings in Wal-Mart and Sam&#39;s Clubs retail stores, as well as online offerings, by June, the company said.Wal-Mart&#39;s rejection of HD DVD is a sign that Blu-ray is catching on with retailers. Best Buy earlier this week said it would recommend users to buy Blu-ray products, though it would continue offering HD DVD products. Movie rental chains Netflix and Blockbuster recently abandoned HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray DVD offerings.Six of eight major movie studios publish Blu-ray DVDs, including Walt Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Sony, and Warner Bros. Only two major movie studios, Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment, publish in the HD DVD format.The Blu-ray format has also seen a spate of victories in the gaming and consumer electronics industries with companies like Philips adopting the format over HD DVD.Blu-ray supporters include Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung, while Toshiba, Microsoft, and Intel are among the companies supporting HD DVD.
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The high-definition DVD format war  has not been won, at least not in the minds of the retailers.  Last week, Time Warner Inc's  Warner Bros studio said it  would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Blu-ray  format instead of Toshiba Corp's  competing HD DVD  technology.