As if high-def DVDs weren't already a consfusing enough sell to consumers.
Starting in September, home media buffs in the U.S. and Europe -- Denmark, Finland, France, Poland and Sweden, specifically -- will have a third HD disc format to choose from, the HD Versatile Multilayer Disc VMD).
Debuting a full year and a half behind HD DVD, the fledgling HD VMD -- being championed by U.K. technology company New Medium Enterprises -- is starting almost from scratch in the U.S. in terms of both distribution and content.
No major U.S. studio has aligned itself with HD VMD yet (although one indie has). And so far, just one U.S. retailer, Web site PCrush.com, has formally agreed to sell the HD VMD player.