The perfect solution to those users who would love to have HD-DVD films but can't afford the hardware just yet? Warner Home Video announce Hybrid DVDs - One side is a normal DVD and the other a HD-DVD! Now this actually makes sense for once and I reckon this should take off as long as the movie is no more expensive.
"The battle between the two competing next-generation optical disc formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray, is shaping up to be this generation's VHS versus Betamax. HD DVD has the slight advantage of getting out of the gate first, although only a tiny smattering of titles are available, and the first round of players are priced at a level that could only appeal to early adopters.
Now, Warner Home Video is hoping to change this equation somewhat by releasing "hybrid" titles—discs that are regular DVD movies on one side and HD DVD on the other. The first such title is the Rob Reiner comedy Rumor Has It. (For those who are wondering why romantic comedies tend to appear alongside sci-fi epics in the short list of titles available for new formats, here is a plausible answer.)
Warner hopes that the hybrid discs will help consumers transition slowly over to the new HD DVD format:
"Purchasing a disc now in this format gives consumers the greatest flexibility in viewing options," Warner senior vice president Steve Nickerson said. "If they own an HD DVD player, they'll get all the benefits of HD DVD. If they're considering a future purchase of an HD DVD player, they can still enjoy the movie (on their existing DVD player) until they upgrade."
What is left unsaid, of course, is that if a consumer purchases a hybrid title they are less likely to follow up that purchase with a Blu-ray player instead of an HD DVD one. Whether or not this represents a significant proportion of the movie-buying public is the key question. Because of major differences in the Blu-ray manufacturing process, it is allegedly much easier to create a hybrid DVD/HD DVD disc using the same production line than it is to make a hybrid DVD/Blu-ray one. This may convince other companies to produce more hybrid DVD/HD DVD titles."
So is this more likely to get users interested in HD-DVD over Blu ray? Of course time will tell but it's an idea I like a lot. Read the full story over at the ARS Techica website.
Thursday 27th at 12:32 
Thursday 27th at 12:32 
