DamnedIfIknow used our news submit to tell us that a new dvd war could be looming just around the corner. The two formats that will be fighting out the next dvd battle will be Blu-ray and High Definition DVD. The Blu-Ray standard is supported by a dozen or so companies which are headed by Sony, this format can hold up to 50 Gigabtyes of information. The high definition format seems to be only supported by Toshiba and Nec at this moment of time, but Microsoft may endorse their support for this for this format later on, it has a capcity of 30 Gigabytes.
At the moment, the only movie studio that has
expressed support for a format is Columbia Tristar and since they are owned by
Sony they obviously picked Blu-Ray as their format of choice. Movie
studios think the dvd format is ready for replacement as early as next
year. With the more HD-TVs being produced it means the end user can really
take advantage of higher definition video. Also a new disc format for the
studios means that they can start repacking old films onto the new formats which
will bring in more money. No other studio apart from columbia tristar have
favoured a certain future DVD format just yet.
 Just as consumers are beginning to get comfortable with their DVD players, electronics manufacturers are set to introduce next-generation discs that store more '” and would be harder to copy. A dozen companies, headed by Sony Corp, are pushing a disc called the Blu-ray. The other main contender, the High Definition DVD, is promoted only by Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. But it has an important endorsement from an industry group and is also expected to get Microsoft Corp.'s support as the software giant seeks a toehold for its multimedia format in the consumer electronics arena. Movie studios generally aren't commenting on the new formats. And the rival industry groups aren't saying exactly when they expect to have players on the market. Both, however, consider the DVD ripe for replacement next year. |
You can catch the full story at Yahoo News. It looks like customers are going
to be caught between two different formats all over again. Let's hope it
doesnt end up like Betamax Vs VHS all over again, where one format isn't
compatible with the other or the end user of the losing format will be
out of pocket.
Source: Yahoo News
