Warner Brothers, part of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), has decided that its HD material will only be released on the Sony (NYSE: SNE) supported Blu-ray format. That is bad news for Toshiba, which has championed the rival HD-DVD technology. According to Reuters "Warner Bros., Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, represents about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States and was one of the few studios that backed both formats."

While the news is good for Sony, it is hard to say whether it will speed high definition DVD adoption. The fact that there are two formats has confused consumers. This has likely kept them out of the market and forced them to rely on HD content delivered over cable and satellite. As a matter of fact, it may be a key to improved satellite TV subscription numbers.

The presence of two formats has likely also helped the new fiber-to-the-home products from telephone companies like Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). They have enough bandwidth to support a number of HDTV channels.

Sony may have gotten some good news, but consumers may have already turned elsewhere for high definition content.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Some large retailers may be trying to re-invent an old favorite into this season's "Must-Have" consumer electronic product. HD DVD, which provides much better picture quality, enhanced features and more to the largely maturing DVD market will hit a new low this holiday season, as the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has already begun marketing a new HD DVD player for $198 -- quite a price drop from the $300 and $500 regular prices for many current standalone HD DVD players.

But, Wal-Mart is not the only one -- others like Circuit City are getting in on the action, too. In fact, the $197.99 price point offered at the consumer electronics retailer along with the same price at online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) beats Wal-Mart's price by a penny in what appears to be an initial attempt at holiday price wars. Too bad this is a product that most consumers couldn't care less about in the first place.

But, they may care when the price gets to a certain low point, and the sub-$200 area does get there. If HD DVD gets to the sub-$100 price in the next year, consumers will care about "enhanced, high-definition video" just because of the price. My straw poll indicates that most consumers are perfectly happy with progressive-scan DVD players -- which now retail for $50.

The Toshiba player in question was released earlier in 2007 with a $500 retail price, but has seen price chops all year long (Amazon recently sold it for $230), and now this old inventory is being unloaded at fire sales prices probably just to get the newer hardware format into consumer hands. How convenient that the holiday season is just around the corner!

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) may find itself acting as an arbiter in the DVD standard fighting between HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Its Warner Brothers division will unveil next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a single videodisc that can play films and TV programs in both rival formats -- Blu-ray and HD-DVD. This is said to be the "Total HD Disc," and it makes one wonder just why industry giants are doing the same thing all over again. The New York Times has a story "New Disc May Sway DVD Wars" (registration required).

Toshiba, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), and others are behind the HD-DVD format and Blu-ray is essentially backed by Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE) and friends. If either of these formats is going to work well it better learn some interoperability.

This seems like the same argument I recall from 25 or so years ago. Sony would have won out with Betamax over VHS if it hadn't been so greedy back in the 1970s and early 1980s. But it used too tight of a stranglehold and then demanded too much on licensing, so the "rest of the industry" banded together in an up-yours coalition format that became VHS. Betamax was smaller, had less degradation, and gave a better picture. Do I dare use a Windows versus Linux or a Windows versus Mac format as the same comparison? Or what about an iTunes format versus other MP3 formats? Right now the customer-base wants interoperability.

Consumers are buying cool gadgets. Most will never really understand the difference between the two formats of HD-DVD and Blu-ray DVD, and most won't care. All that will ultimately matter on this is the price, the "cool" factor, and how accessible the technology is. So if all the children are going to fight and not learn from history, then maybe an arbiter is needed. It looks like Time Warner has figured out another potential niche and slick revenue source.

The Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD war over the next standard for Hi-Definition Media is already underway, with many swings for and against each camp.

Most consumers would probably choose to wait until the standards war (much like Betamax vs VHS) is over so that there will be no wasted money on players for the standard that loses.

Major players in Media and Hi-Tech however do not have that luxury. Hi Definiton TV programming is already available and prevalent on most cable/satellite systems. Hi-Definition Display adoption has been booming as most Plasma, LCD, and Projection TVs are now HD compatible (able to display Hi-Definition Resolutions).

With HD Content and HD Displays already on the market, companies must provide their customers with the means to fully embrace the new content or potentially lose their customers to competitors who have chosen a camp (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) and are offering HD products/services.

Apple has been on the board of directors for the Blu-Ray standard since March 10, 2005, but as of yet has not incorporated Blu-Ray into any of its new products.