Walt Disney Home Entertainment, a major Hollywood studio and one of the strongest backers of Blu-ray disc format, voted for approval of a preliminary specification of 51GB triple-layer HD DVD media, just like all the backers of HD DVD and unlike some other backers of Blu-ray Association within the DVD Forum, who typically abstain in HD DVD-related votes.

At the Steering Committee meeting in September Walt Disney Home Entertainment voted for triple layer twin-format HD DVD as well as triple layer HD DVD 51GB revision 1.9 preliminary media standards, according to the notes from the event available at the DVD Forum. During the meeting, twelve steering members of the DVD Forum out of twenty approved the former and eleven members approved the latter.

In both cases Walt Disney voted for the new HD DVD standards, whereas Samsung Electronics, which supports both Blu-ray and HD DVD with its Blu-ray disc (BD) and unified Blu-ray/HD DVD players, decided to abstain in voting for the 51GB HD DVD, just like some other members of the Blu-ray Association, who always withdraw from HD DVD votes, namely Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Sharp and Sony.

Just last week the DVD Forum approved revision 2.0 of triple-layer HD DVD 51GB media, but the detailed results of the vote were not available at press time.

The fact that Walt Disney Home Entertainment, which official stance has always been strong Blu-ray support, may be an indicator that even members of the Blu-ray Association are potentially interested in the forthcoming versions of the HD DVD standard, which has been competing against BD for nearly two years in a war that is unlikely to end soon and which is even called a “stalemate” by Sony’s chief executive.

Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba, NEC, Intel and Microsoft, as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, which are among the world’s largest makers of electronics. Among Hollywood studios HD DVD is supported by New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios, whereas Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox endorse Blu-ray.

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