The major trades are reporting today that Warner Bros. has come over to Sony’s Blu-ray platform.

For reasons known only to God, the industry still seems to have a hard time remembering the expensive debacles that happen when competing, incompatible formats battle for consumers. The DVD/DivX and BetaMax/VHS mis-steps cost companies and consumers tens of million of dollars.

Daily Variety says that Warner Home Video will continue to support Toshiba’s competing (and incompatible) HD DVD format. At one point, Warner Bros. had threatened to support HD DVD only.

In a related development, Hewlett-Packard, a supporter of Blu-ray Disc, announced yesterday it has issued a formal appeal to the Blu-ray Disc Assn. to include two new technologies, iHD and Managed Copy, as part of its format specifications. Both technologies are part of the specs for the HD-DVD format. A company spokesman says HP wants to ensure that consumers don’t have to choose between the two formats.

To add to the confusion, in the PC world, Microsoft and Intel are currently supporting HD-DVD. HP’s Wednesday statement said, "Among other things: [We have] determined that Managed Copy and iHD will address the fundamental technical needs of the PC and help create a seamless experience throughout the digitally connected home.”

With five of the six major studios supporting Blu-ray, HD-DVD, HD DVD’s days may be numbered.