Audio Video News

In a surprising show of support for HD DVD, 20,000 people have signed an online petition begging for the underdog high-def disc format's life.

HD DVD fan Tudor Cacenco wrote the petition. Here is the full text:

To: Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures

Dear High Def movie fans, I'm starting this petition in order to support HD-DVD and hopefully save it, and to show Warner Brothers that the consumer has not "clearly" chosen Blu-Ray. Warner Brothers switched to Blu-Ray exclusive claiming that its the best thing for the consumer, but how about all the consumers that bought HD-DVD movies and hardware for the holidays, or all the loyal HD-DVD fans like myself that own Warner HD-DVDs? Warner just screwed them all.

HD-DVD is more alive than ever, with cheaper hardware prices, and better technological capabilities, both of which are better for the consumer. I guess Warner feel higher prices and less features are better. The only thing Blu-Ray has going for it is 20GB of extra storage space, and a big name like Sony backing it up. HD-DVD on the other hand has PIP, web-enabled features, in movie menus, and much more. And if extra space is needed, use another disc, big deal.

So please, sign this petition, and lets get as many votes as we can so we can hopefully change Warner's mind to return to being format neutral, or go HD-DVD exclusive. This would also show the remaining HD-DVD exclusive studios, Universal & Paramount, that HD-DVD still has supporters, thus they shouldn't switch to Blu-Ray. We have a chance to save a superior format from collapsing under the weight of the greedy Sony corporation and its inferior Blu-Ray format, let's do it!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Despite this "noble effort," answered Filip Brajovic of eHome Upgrade, "petitions don't make money.... The petition is simply the result of unaware consumers eagerly grappling for new technology at a time when the to-be standard was a complete coin toss."

Still, as Yogi Berra once said, it ain't over till it's over, and there are still potential maneuvers that might turn HD DVD into a niche format.