Disney Prez Blasts HD DVD Backers

Bob Chapek, president of Disney Studios Home Entertainment, said yesterday that Blu-ray’s victory in the high-def disc format war is "inevitable."

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Chapek blames supporters of Blu-ray’s rival, HD DVD, for prolonging the format war. Disney is an exclusive backer of Blu-ray.

"Blu-ray’s competition’s attempts to sell less than the best will inevitably be trumped by what we stated from the very beginning: That the Blu-ray technology is not a half-step format that will sell consumers short, but rather it is a revolutionary technology that will change the way we view movies for the long term," Chapek said at a Blu-ray promotional event.

Several retailers, including Circuit City, recently began selling a sub-$200 Toshiba HD DVD player and it’s likely that Blu-ray prices will come down soon as well, setting the stage for a holiday showdown.

Chapek yesterday seemed to take a "bring it on" approach.

"And we firmly believe that revolutionary technology, my friends, is indisputably, undeniably and inevitably Blu-ray.," he said.