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| Toshiba slams Blu-ray/ HD DVD convergence claims By Tony Smith Tuesday 10th May 2005 11:18 GMT Claims that moves to unify the two key competing HD video disc formats are progressing to a successful conclusion are "unfounded and erroneous", Toshiba said today. Toshiba is pushing HD DVD. Sony is promoting Blu-ray Disc (BD). Both formats use blue laser light to increase the capacity of a DVD-sized optical disc sufficiently to allow it to hold HD movie content. BD has the edge in capacity - 25GB per layer, to HD DVD's 15GB - but is harder to make and is potentially less resistant to damage. Both camps have won big-name backers from the movie, storage and computing markets. This is a recipe for commercial disaster, as the two formats battle it out for consumers' hearts, minds and wallets. Generally, consumers are unwilling to make a choice until there's a clear winner - the last thing anyone wants is to be lumbered with a moribund format. No wonder, then, that Sony revealed last month it was open to discussing how the two formats might be aligned. Soon after, Toshiba said it was indeed talking to the BD camp about such matters, a fact it re-iterated today. "We are actively participating in talks towards format unification," it said in statement released this morning. "At this point, however, nothing has been decided, and absolutely no decision has been made for unification on any basis," it added ominously. "The indication that a unification agreement on the basis of a 0.1mm disc system is imminent is unfounded and erroneous. Given this, Toshiba does not intend to make any proposal on unification to the members of the HD DVD Promotion Group." Toshiba said it would continue with the discussions; but we wonder if talk are simply an attempt by each camp to persuade the other to drop their favourite format. Certainly, representatives from both groups have in the past vociferously denied there is any way the two formats might be physically integrated. Any union between the two is therefore likely to centre on implementing format A's file structure on format B's physical disc specification. Either way round, that means one or other disc must be ditched. As if to highlight the gulf between the BD and HD DVD, Toshiba also intends to present "a new higher capacity HD DVD-ROM disc" this week at Media-Tech Expo 2005 in Las Vegas. The BD Forum will also be at the show, to provide an update on its as-yet-incomplete format later today. |
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| Film studios snub Sony DVD format Three Hollywood studios have chosen to embrace next-generation DVD technology backed by Toshiba, snubbing a rival product promoted by Sony. Paramount, Universal and Warner Brothers are to use a high definition DVD format backed by Toshiba and NEC. Their decision is a setback for Sony which famously lost the battle to set a standard for video cassette recorders when its Betamax lost out to JVC's VHS. Toshiba expects sales of HD-DVDs to hit 300bn yen ($2.9bn; £1.5bn) by 2010. Clearer pictures Next-generation DVDs can record an entire film in high definition format, ensuring sharper pictures. The technology is expected to become widely available from 2006 onwards. The studios' decision to back the Toshiba backed product is hugely significant because along with New Line Cinema - a Warner sister company which is also supporting the HD format - they account for about 45% of packaged DVD content. Sony has been banking on its Blu-ray Disc technology which has, to date, won support from Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM Studios. Universal is to release titles on Toshiba's HD-DVD format next year while Paramount said it would follow suit in 2006. "We have done extensive research on Blu-ray and HD-DVD and we concluded finally that HD-DVD had several major advantages including in durability, reliability and manufacturing," Marsha King, general manager of Warner Home Video, told the Reuters news agency. Competing formats Sony also lost the most recent format war, when its DVD technology was snubbed by other Japanese equipment manufacturers. This allowed Toshiba technology to become the current industry standard. "We think this carries a great impact," said Yoshihide Fujii, a corporate senior vice president at Toshiba. "There is strong desire in Hollywood for a single format." Universal, Paramount and Warners said they would continue to w**k with the Blu-ray group, whose members also include Dell, Samsung and Matsushita. Twentieth Century Fox said recently that it was evaluating both major formats. |