Blu-ray talks fail Toshiba indicates two formats on the way

With so
much invested by both sides and so much in royalties at stake, no agreement can be reached for a unified Bluray format. Bluray has a more sophisticated format that holds more data, HD-DVD says you don't need it and they have the more DVD compatible and therefore, cheaper solution.

Toshiba Corp.'s president said Wednesday his company has no plans to revive failed talks with a Sony Corp. led consortium to find a unified format for next-generation DVDs, indicating that two rival - and incompatible - formats of the discs are here to stay. "There's no plan for (resuming) such talks at this moment" with Sony, Toshiba President and Chief Executive Officer Atsutoshi Nishida said. Toshiba Corp. leads a group supporting the HD DVD format, while the Sony-led bloc backs the Blu-ray format. Nishida said it was very likely that DVD products using the two different formats will remain on the market for the time being, but he added Toshiba hasn't given up efforts to unify the next-generation DVD formats. Fears are growing that this may be a repeat of the VHS-versus-Beta battle of the early 1980s over the format for video tape recorders. Nishida said it would take up to two years to develop DVD devices once the two sides agree on the new format.

It's all over the news in studies, they say that if a dual format is introduced, there is a very slim chance of acceptance of either in the marketplace. For the most part, I think they are right too. However, I disagree somewhat in that if a reasonably priced recorder comes along with an affordable media to boot, I will probably consider one of these Blu-ray devices for my PC. But as far as buying a stand alone player, recorder or even purchasing HD content from Hollywood. I'll set that one out until there is a clear winner.

DVD movies are plenty good enough, darn cheap too if you rent or pick up bargains. In addition, at this time there is absolutely not enough high definition content on television to record to warrant one either. I'm old enough to still feel the sting of my Betamax purchase that I based on the feeling that it was superior to VHS. I learned the hard way then that in the marketplace, the good guy doesn't always win. So, since I can't predict the future, I will wait and see what it holds for me this time.

I think both sides will suffer as there is not enough of a technological leap that can be shown to the average Joe to make him or her abandon the DVD.

Source: AP High Tech - My Way