First Total HD Combo Discs Could Be Ready by Early Summer

Warner continued to promote its Total HD Blu-ray/HD DVD combo format at this week's IRMA Forum, indicating that initial limited-capacity discs could be ready for market as early as this June.

Unveiled back in January at CES, Warner's Total HD format is the studio's proposed solution to the ongoing next-gen format war, offering a Blu-ray version on one side of the disc, and an HD DVD versionnon the other. The studio has said that the combo discs would be compatible with all Blu-ray and HD DVD players, and would retail for little more than current single-format releases.

At IRMA, representatives from Cinram, one of the manufacturers co-developing Total HD with Warner, outlined capacities and proposed ready-to-market dates for the highly-anticipated combo format.

The reps said that discs with a 15GB HD DVD on one side and a 25GB Blu-ray on the other will be ready to ship by June. They said that that initial release would be followed by a higher-capacity HD DVD 30GB/Blu-ray 25GB in August.

The group offered no timetable for a full-capacity HD DVD 30GB/Blu-ray 50GB version. This could prove to be a short-term liability for Blu-ray and/or Warner, limiting all Total HD-supporting distributors to 25GB Blu-ray releases only.

At press time, Warner has not yet announced titles or street dates for its first Total HD releases, which were previously expected to hit stores in early fall.

No other studios (besides Warner and its subsidiaries) have yet announced plans to support Total HD.

The 37th Annual International Recording Media Association (IRMA) Forum was held yesterday in Los Angeles, California.