Originally published July 25 2005
DVD high-definition format wars
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Sony and Toshiba have failed to agree on a way to unify their products, HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Both disks can store 3 times that of a normal DVD, but the failure of both companies to come to a compromise could mean that the market takes off slowly.
Echoes of the quixotic war between Sony's Betamax and the VHS format that ultimately replaced it remain high in the minds of everyone involved even loosely with Hollywood, a distraction that nobody wants to repeat.
Two camps backing incompatible next-generation technologies, led respectively by Sony and Toshiba, have as yet failed to agree on a way to unify their products.
Executives at Dreamworks Animation and Pixar Animation Studios have each issued earnings warnings in recent weeks, blaming slower-than-expected sales of the movies "Shrek 2" and "The Incredibles."
Retailer Best Buy noted in its quarterly earnings statement last week that sales of DVDs, as well as CDs, had tumbled at the same time that video-game sales had grown by double digits.
As with CDs, explanations abound for this phenomenon: The DVD market may finally be saturated, or studios are releasing too many movies too quickly, or maybe this latest batch of movies simply didn't resonate with consumers, analysts say.
A new format could breathe new life into those sales.
But as long as the two formats, called HD DVD and Blu-Ray, remain at odds, few believe that consumers will rush to open their wallets.
Clearer pictures, cloudy future Both new formats, which have taken years to develop, offer vastly more storage capacity on single DVDs, a prospect that excites movie studios, game developers and other software makers.
Next-gen DVDs Both camps say their discs will be playable on today's players, with the creation of a hybrid disc that includes standard DVD content.
Blu-Ray backers say they can include a standard DVD on one layer of a multilayered disc, so high-definition and standard DVD content will be available without having to flip the disc.
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