issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . december 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience . please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information and removing excessive detail that may be against wikipedia s inclusion policy . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message warner home video type home video division of warner bros. industry home video founded 1978 ; 38 years ago 1978 as wci home video headquarters burbank california united states key people ronald j. sanders president products physical and digital video releases owner time warner parent warner bros. website www.warnerbros.com movies home entertainment warner home video is the home video distribution arm of warner bros. a subsidiary of time warner . founded in 1978 as wci home video for warner communications inc. the company primarily releases titles from the film and television library of warner bros. entertainment as well as programs from other time warner companies . contents 1 history 1.1 rentals 1.2 notable firsts warner archive collection and distribution 2 references 3 external links history the company launched in the united states with twenty films on betamax and vhs videocassettes in late 1979 . the company later expanded its line to include additional titles throughout 1979 and 1980 . some early releases were time compressed in order to save tape time and money and to compensate for long playing cassettes being unavailable in the early days of home video . one example was 1978 s superman in which the film was released in a 127 minute format compared to its 143 minute theatrical release . in addition early film to video transfers of films from wci were noted for being in poor quality compared to modern day video releases . by the end of 1980 the quality of transfers had improved . the company was noted in its early days for releases in big cardboard boxes that opened like a book colored in black with cast credits on the inside . some early releases under the warner home video name also used this design . in early 1981 the company switched to plastic clamshell cases with a multicolor design with a few releases using the cardboard boxes and the multicolor designs and to cardboard sleeves in 1985 for packaging eliminating plastic cases by 1986 . in the mid 1990s the studio revived the use of plastic cases for a handful of releases from warner bros. family entertainment . warner bros. began to branch out into the videodisc market licensing titles to mca discovision and rca s selectavision videodisc formats allowing both companies to market and distribute the films under their labels . by 1985 warner was releasing material under their own label in both formats . titles from warner home video were and continue to be distributed and manufactured by roadshow home video in australia and new zealand because of its film counterpart s films released by village roadshow . rentals warner also experimented with the rental only market for videos a method also used by 20th century fox for their first release of star wars in 1982 . two known films released in this manner were superman ii and excalibur . other films released for rental use include dirty harry the enforcer prince of the city and sharky s machine . notable firsts warner archive collection and distribution in 1997 warner home video was one of the first major american distributors for the then new dvd format by releasing twister on dvd . warner executive warren lieberfarb is often seen as the father of dvd . lieberfarb s successor warner executive james f. cardwell was recognized in paving the way for whv s strategic positioning in next generation technologies such as high definition dvd electronic sell through and portable video . in 2003 warner home video became the first home video releasing company to release movies only on dvd with no vhs equivalent . on september 26 2006 warner home video became the first company to release a title in three formats on the same day and date with the home release of the lake house on dvd blu ray and hd dvd . with paramount home entertainment switching from neutral in the high definition video camp to solely to hd dvd in september 2007 warner home video was at the time the only major distributor to support both high definition formats though this changed at the end of may 2008 . from june 2008 warner home video released new high definition content on blu ray only 1 becoming the last major hollywood studio to drop hd dvd after toshiba discontinued the hd dvd format . in 2009 warner home video introduced the warner archive collection which allows the public to order custom made dvds of rarely seen films and tv series from the warner and turner libraries . the films are also available as digital downloads . warner archive dvds and downloads can be ordered online on warner s website on amazon.com or turner classic movies affiliated dvd website movies unlimited . although movies unlimited sells these archive titles it usually takes 2 3 months before the dvd is available for order after warners releases it on their website . 2 in october 2012 paramount home media distribution and warner home video signed a distribution deal allowing warner bros. to gain u.s. and canadian dvd blu ray ultraviolet flixster and dvd manufacturing on demand distribution rights to over 600 paramount pictures titles as well as new paramount titles . the deal came into effect as of january 1 2013 . 3 references warner bros. entertainment to release its high definition dvd titles exclusively in the blu ray disc format beginning later this year . time warner . january 4 2008 . archived from the original on february 23 2008 . retrieved september 19 2016 . burr ty march 28 2009 . classic movies made to order in the warner archive collection . the boston globe . boston.com . retrieved 2012 05 23 . warner bros & paramount announce home media distribution deal deadline.com october 4 2012 . external links official website warner home video at the internet movie database v t e warner bros. founders jack l. warner harry warner albert warner sam warner executives kevin tsujihara chairman and ceo feature film production warner bros. pictures warner bros. family entertainment warner animation group new line cinema castle rock entertainment flagship entertainment joint venture with cmc cartoon network movies tv production and distribution broadcast tv the cw co owned with cbs cable tv channels warner channel with hbo latin america group and hbo asia wb channel with turner international india wb tv productions uk shed productions eyeworks alloy entertainment telepictures wb animation warner bros. television warner bros. international television warner bros. interactive monolith productions tt games traveller s tales tt games publishing tt fusion netherrealm studios rocksteady studios turbine wb games montr al dc entertainment dc films dc comics mad vertigo home video warner home video warner archive collection public attractions warner bros. studio tours miscellaneous assets the wb kids wb momlogic dramafever fandango media 30 % flixster rotten tomatoes turner entertainment co. watertower music v t e region 1 home video lines studios disney walt disney treasures the classics masterpiece collection gold classic collection platinum editions diamond editions fox cinema archives cinema classics collection film noir marquee musicals studio classics lionsgate vestron video collector s series mgm limited edition collection midnite movies mgm kids soul cinema miramax collector s series new line infinifilm platinum series sony choice collection martini movies superbit twc dragon dynasty universal universal backlot series universal cinema classics warner bros. hanna barbera classics collection warner archive collection twisted terror collection licensees criterion laserdisc dvd and blu ray eclipse kino kino lorber studio classics olive films dvd and blu ray oscilloscope dvd and blu ray shout factory scream factory shout select roger corman s cult classics twilight time dvd and blu ray v t e region 3 home video distributors region 3 studios hong kong mei ah entertainment ocean shores video philippines gma records and home video regal home video star home video viva video foreign studios 20th century fox home entertainment buena vista home entertainment dreamworks home entertainment mgm home entertainment sony pictures home entertainment columbia tristar home video universal studios warner home video licensors philippines c interactive digital entertainment south korea blue kino kd media plain archive united entertainment korea retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title warner home video & oldid 743753488 categories 1978 establishments in californiacompanies based in burbank californiaentertainment companies based in californiaentertainment companies established in 1978home video companies of the united stateshome video distributorsmedia companies established in 1978time warner subsidiarieshidden categories wikipedia pages semi protected from banned usersuse mdy dates from february 2016articles lacking in text citations from december 2011all articles lacking in text citationswikipedia articles needing style editing from september 2016all articles needing style editingofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read view source view history more search navigation main 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