One disc to rule them all? WB to announce Total HD

Hot on the heels of my new year's prediction that Blu Ray and HD DVD would both fail to become mass-market standards comes news that a bridge between the two formats may be coming after all. The New York Times is reporting that Warner Brothers Studios will announce a new optical format at CES next Tuesday, called Total HD, which will support both the HD DVD and Blu Ray formats. "The next best thing is to recognize that there will be two formats and to make that not a negative for the consumer," said Barry M. Meyer, chairman and chief executive of Warner Brothers. "We felt that the most significant constituency for us to satisfy was the consumer first, and the retailer second. The retailer wants to sell hardware and doesn't want to be forced into stocking two formats for everything. This is ideal for them."

For more on the new format:
- see this New York Times article