For those who chose poorly in the high definition video wars and haven't liquidated their dead HD-DVD library, Warner Bros has a solution.
In exchange for the cover art from your HD-DVDs, plus a fee, the company will send a new Blu-ray disc; Warner Bros doesn't even want the HD-DVD media itself. The "Red2Blu" service costs $4.95 per disc, plus $6.95 shipping and handling in the continental US or $8.95 in Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico.
There are 128 HD DVD titles that Warner Bros will accept, and you can only get the same Blu-ray disc in return, so don't expect to get saved from owning a bad movie. Up to 25 HD-DVD movies may be upgraded per household. The entire transaction takes four to five weeks.
With the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray wars long settled, it seems a little late to be offering the service, but it's better now than never. And you can see the motivation on Warner Bros' part in the marketing copy: They want stragglers to get started on a Blu-ray library in hopes of getting more ~$30 per disc sales down the line.
It would be really nice if other studios participated, but I'm not counting on it. After all, they can reap the benefits of new Blu-ray customers even if Warner Bros. does the legwork.
