Universal’s commitment to HD DVD has ended
It is still unclear what this really means, but Daily Variety confirmed that Universal’s HD DVD commitment has ended. This doesn’t mean Universal is going to drop HD DVD and neither does it mean that they’re going to start supporting Blu-ray, but they are free to do it if they wish.
Following up on my last post , Variety has also confirmed that Paramount does have an escape clause in their HD DVD agreement.
Paramount has stated they intend to continue support for HD DVD, but that does cleverly leave room for them to rejoin Blu-ray without lying. Paramount’s HD DVD agreement extends throughout the year unless they exercise their escape clause. Universal is committed to upcoming HD DVD promotions, so don’t expect them to announce anything until that commitment ends.
It will be interesting to see what the retails do in the wake of the big news. Last year Blockbuster chose Blu-ray for their US stores, and Target chose Blu-ray for the holiday season (at CES, Philips mentioned Target was going exclusive but that is unconfirmed). Kep an eye out.
