Microsoft, Universal Team on HD DVD

Microsoft and Universal Studios announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas Monday a collaboration to use Microsoft technologies in upcoming HD DVD discs. The Redmond company is a strong supporter of the next-generation DVD technology.

Universal has agreed to use iHD, an interactivity feature for DVDs, in its upcoming titles. Additionally, it will use VC-1, a compression protocol recently approved as a standard for use in HD DVD discs. Both technologies were developed in part by researchers at Microsoft.

VC-1 will allow Universal to offer full 1080p resolution, yet have enough space on the 30GB HD DVD disc for additional features. iHD will allow for the accessing of interactive features without the need to interrupt playback.

"With plans to release a wide range of HD DVD titles, Universal also needed a flexible interactive layer that can scale to accommodate new features," Universal Studios Home Entertainment president Craig Kornblau said in a statement. "This is a scenario where VC-1 and iHD came out far ahead of other technologies."

Currently, every major studio with plans to support HD DVD will use VC-1 in their discs. The first HD DVD players from Toshiba hit the U.S. market last week, retailing for $499 USD.