Warner Home Video Announces First Hybrid HD/DVD

In what continues to be a one-sided battle, with HD-DVD having a minor lead as a result of being first to market, comes the first hybrid HD/DVD disc featuring the movie “Rumor Has It”.  Available on May 9th, the disc features the widescreen DVD version on one side, with the HD-DVD version on the other. 

Due to manufacturing differences, it’s easier and less expensive to create a hybrid HD/DVD disc than the equivalent BD/DVD version.  Providing consumers with discs that offer an upgrade path for HD content, instead of a standard definition dead end, could be a major factor in the format war.  Not everyone is willing to jump into the deep end of the early adopter pool, and many would rather wriggle their toes in the shallow end until a winner is “declared”.  Hybrid discs will allow them to do just that, while also working as an obstacle to potential Blu-ray purchases.  After all, if you already have movies on DVD that also include the High-Def version on the flip-side, why would you want to buy the movie again in Blu-ray format?  With an MSRP of $39.99 USD, the hybrid HD/DVD version does carry a higher price than the standard DVD, but it does keep one’s options open without forcing an immediate hardware purchase.

Purely speculation on our part, but if the price of hybrid discs were lowered to be very close to their plain DVD cousins, the HD-DVD camp would “clean house” as there would be little impetus for consumers to buy just the DVD version.  For the short term this might lower profits or possibly even incur a minor fiscal loss, but in the end isn’t it all about who wins the war?

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