All the major studios are said to be either on board or in active talks with the retailer, which will begin testing a video download service on its Web site.

The decade-old DVD moved two small steps closer yesterday to technology’s endangered-species list.

Wal-Mart, the country’s largest seller of movies, announced that next year it will begin testing a video download service on its Web site. Wal-Mart did not reveal its partners, but media executives involved in the deal said that all the major studios are either on board or in active talks with the retailer, and that Hewlett-Packard is providing the technology for the download site.