Las Vegas - A number of top U.S. retailers have pledged support for Time Warner's proposed combination DVD format, which will combine competing Blu-ray and HD DVD technologies on a single disc, Reuters reported.

Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.com said they will carry Total HD. Warner Bros. said at the Consumer Electronics Show that the first titles released using the format, which will be playable in either a Blu-ray or HD DVD player, are scheduled to ship in the second half of 2007.

"It behooved us to figure out a way to transition (consumers) from standard definition to high definition DVDs," Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Entertainment, told Reuters. "From our perspective we don't care if it's Blu-ray or HD-DVD. We just want the transition to occur… It takes away the whole fear of buying the wrong format."

Meanwhile, LG Electronics introduced the first hardware device to play both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs -- the $1,200 BH100 "Super Multi Blue" player -- at the trade show in Las Vegas this week.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/yzr8wu (Reuters)