A new report indicates that although only a tiny percentage of Netflix users are high-def early adopters, among them HD DVD appears to be favored over Blu-ray by a factor of more than two-to-one.

The nation's leading online DVD rental service says demand among its customers for both high-def disc formats is equal, but (no surprise) it pales in comparison to standard-def DVD.

With no fanfare, today Netflix has added the ability for its customers to set up their accounts to rent Blu-Ray discs.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is reaching out to all of the major Hollywood studios in an effort to bring an end to the high-def DVD format war.

With little fanfare, Netflix has added the ability for its customers to set up their accounts to rent HD-DVD discs. The company had announced earlier this year that it was planning to rent both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs this year.

As the weblog Hacking Netflix describes in detail, customers can access the setup option from the "Your Account" page, and after adjusting the preferred default format to DVD or HD-DVD, a new column called "Format" appears in their queue.

This news comes on the same day that Warner announced probable delays in its first HD-DVD disc releases, which were originally expected March 28. So while it's great for high-def DVD enthusiasts to have an HD-DVD rental option at Netflix, it will be even greater once there are actually a few titles available to rent. Here's hoping that's soon.

This morning, Netflix, the nation's leading online DVD rental service, announced they intend to offer HD-DVD discs to their customers beginning in March. The company also plays to support the upcoming Blu-Ray format when it is expected to launch sometime later in 2006.

The Netflix announcement is good news for early adopters of either format. Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs are expected to sell at a premium at launch, so a strong rental option will no doubt be a boon for those who want to enjoy their hot new high-def players but not have to pay $40 to own 'Mission: Impossible 2.'