The arrival of HD-DVD in Europe

Unfortunately, the next-generation consumer electronics standard from the DVD-Forum will only arrive on our continent before Christmas.

Analysts at the HD-DVD Promotion Group say we can officially welcome the release of the HD-DVD movie format in the last quarter of 2006 at the earliest. Olivier Van Wynendaele of Toshiba Information Systems (UK) said the company giant had developed a 12-month strategy for its European presence. In the first half of the year, which begins at Christmas, they will focus on winning technically-minded men who claim the benefits of high-definition formats and who already have an HD-Ready-rated TV (or buy one as a result). During the second semester, the task will be to broaden the circle of interested and potential buyers by publishing more and more publications. They also consider it very important for Toshiba to include the latest titles on HD-DVD, thus enticing the movie-loving audience.

 Toshiba HD-DVD desktop player with HD-Ready image display

Toshiba estimates that by the end of 2007, nearly 1 million HD-DVD players will be hosted in Europe, which is approx. 4% of the number of HDTV owners expected by then. There are currently 21 HD-DVD films available overseas, with 7 more to join in July, and a total of 150 releases are expected to be available by Christmas. We will only be able to provide further details on the spread of the format after the autumn IFA.

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