Washington, D.C. (May 30, 2007) -- Universal's Ken Graffeo says the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD is good for consumers.

Additionally, he says Universal will continue to support the HD DVD format exclusively, the only studio to do so.

"A little over a year ago, the least expensive HD-DVD player was $799. Now, with Toshiba's current rebate promotion, you can get an HD-DVD player for as little as $299....On the Blu-Ray side, the players started at $1,000 to $1,800 at the end of (2006) and this summer will be down to $599 with new models from Sony and Panasonic. It's the format war that's driving pricing down at such a dramatic, accelerated rate," Graffeo told the Philadelphia Daily News

Blu-ray and HD DVD are locked in an intense battle for the new high-def disc audience. Four of the eight major studios are backing Blu-ray exclusively while Universal is behind HD DVD. The others are releasing titles in both formats.

However, many industry officials, particularly retailers, are urging an end to the format war, saying it's confusing consumers. Consequently, they say, high-def player and title sales are well below what they should be.

But Graffeo tells the Daily News that his studio still believes that HD DVD offers the "better set of mandatory specifications" because every HD DVD player has an Ethernet port and carries the software to support interactive features.

"In Blu-Ray, the interactive specs are still just an option. The only Blu-Ray player now sold with an Ethernet port is the PlayStation 3," he said.

He adds that manufacturing costs for HD DVD discs and players are lower than Blu-ray, which is why Toshiba's entry-level HD DVD player is now priced at $299.

"When you can get below $300 for hardware, you open up the mass market. Now people are willing to jump in and buy a player," Graffeo said. "I can't imagine Blu-Ray getting even close to a $300 player this year. I expect their lead dog, PlayStation 3 (now $599) to drop $100, but that's it.

Asked why sales of Blu-ray titles have outpaced HD DVD, Graffeo said: "We didn't have many hot releases in the first quarter, or many releases at all. They had some real biggies, like Casino Royale. The fourth quarter will be telling. Our releases will be stronger."

Comment on this article!