The Blu-ray Disc versus HD-DVD (High definition digital video disc) war just got a little hotter today, when HD-DVD received backing from a major player in the media business.

"Toshiba Corp. said in a statement today it has received separate commitments of support not only from Universal, but also from Paramount Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Studios, for HD-DVD. The company also said it would launch several HD-DVD products, including a player, recorder, and notebook PC with a built-in HD-DVD drive, by the end of 2005."

Film studio Universal Pictures have announced that they will be adopting the HD-DVD format, and will be making titles available to consumers during the 2005 holiday season. Universal believe that HD-DVD represents the superior technology choice because of its secure data copy protection properties. Things didn't go too well last time when DVDs were used to try to make movie piracy a thing of the past, and now that a new format is on the horizon, whatever it turns out to be (HD-DVD, Blu-ray or whatever) it's likely to be used to introduce more stringent anti-piracy technologies than ever for movies.