Fox to produce films on Blu-Ray DVD format war has started

2 August 2005 9:37 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Twentieth Century Fox has drawn a line in the sand and announced that it will be supporting Sony's Blu-ray disc format over Toshiba's HD-DVD technology in the next dvd format war on its way.

The company, which is the first to openly state which format it will be manufacturering, will begin releasing new films and TV programmes when Blu-ray hardware becomes available in North America, Japan, and Europe.

Fox's film library includes films ranging from Aliens to Die Hard while its television arm is responsible for shows such as X-files, The Simpsons and 24.

Fox is citing the decision as its: “commitment to publish on Blu-ray is a direct result of the organization's [Blu-ray association's] recent adoption of copyright protection measures, including renewable security, that address the needs and concerns of the studio and the entire Hollywood community.”

Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment said "For consumers, the release of our films on Blu-ray will provide in-home entertainment beyond anything they have imagined.”

Blu-ray Disc is a next generation optical disc format developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data. This greater storage capacity enables the Blu-ray Disc to store over five times the amount of content than is possible with current DVD.

In related news, rumours are surfacing on the web that Microsoft will opt for the HD-DVD disc format for its Xbox 360 console.