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View Full Version : Sony turns soft on next gen DVD format battle


Ritchie Nolasco
04-14-2005, 08:53 PM
Sony said today that it is open to discussions to create a single next generation DVD format, unifying Blu-ray Disc with its arch rival, HD-DVD.

"From the point of view to provide the best service to the consumer one format is better than two. We're open to discussions," Yukinori Kawauchi , general manager of Sony's video-planning division, said in an interview.

For the second time in less than a month, Sony has expressed its intention to avoid a format battle like the one that happened in the early eighties with VHS and Betamax.

"Listening to the voice of the consumers, having two rival formats is disappointing and we haven't totally given up on the possibility of integration or compromise," said Ryoji Chubachi, Sony's president-elect, at a news conference last month.

HD DVD is the next generation DVD format being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. HD DVD players and HD DVD video software are expected to come to market in late 2005, and will allow consumers to enjoy video content, including Hollywood movies, with crystal-clear, high-definition picture quality.

Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation optical disc format backed by Sony, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsu****a Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Philips Electronics, Pioneer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, and Thomson Multimedia. Blu-ray Disc is being developed for High Definition video and high-capacity software applications.

The advantage of Blu-ray Disc over HD DVD is definitely capacity. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data. Current HD-DVD discs can store up to 30 gigabytes of storage. Sony has also developed an 8-layer version that is capable of storing 200 gigabytes of data.

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/8041/Sony-Wants-to-Avoid-Bluray-Disc-HD-DVD-War/

Glockstar
04-15-2005, 05:17 AM
Wow. Sorry, don't know what else to say right now.

Is everybody else speechless too, or what? That's big!

Darwin
04-15-2005, 06:16 AM
So the industry is willing to go with the format that holds less data per disc?

trebor
04-15-2005, 08:00 AM
Sony going a route that actually benefits consumers? Color me shocked and awed. :eek:

joquito
04-17-2005, 07:13 PM
Business analyst have been saying for a while now that Sony Corp is in serious debt. Some even go as far as to speculate that they may be broken up or certain divisions sold off. With a new console war brewing, can Sony really afford to go for another VHS/Betamax like war. Granted they actually won the VHS/Betamax war. They made more money selling for the production market than JVC made on the consumer market. Unfortunately, no one uses optical media in the pro market.