In the battle between still-unreleased next-generation DVD formats, Fox has already chosen sides. The studio says it sees Sony’s Blu-ray as the clear winner due to PlayStation 3 support, and, unlike other studios, will not produce movies in HD DVD.

The public backing by Fox comes amid wavering support from the computer industry due to Blu-ray’s restrictive copy-protection scheme. HP has retreated from Blu-ray’s camp after Intel and Microsoft strongly pledged their support for HD DVD instead.

But Fox and other studios like the strict technology that will prevent consumers from utilizing future movies as freely as current DVDs. HD DVD employs more lax copy controls and ensures support for streaming movies to different locations throughout the home.

Bill Gates, however, recently labeled Blu-ray’s content protection as anti-consumer. “The inconvenience is that the [movie] studios got too much protection at the expense consumers and it won’t work well on PCs,” Gates explained.

Source: BetaNews

Read also The High Definition DVD FAQ.