The future of high-definition blue-laser DVDs will happen, but competing standards make the future a little less clear.
One standard for blue laser DVDs, called Blu-ray, has support from Sony and Disney. It will be part of next year’s PlayStation 3 release, and holds the most data. With ten times the storage of existing DVDs, Sony thinks Blu-ray will deliver better on future high-definition content and interactive features.
Another standard, HD DVD, developed by Toshiba and supported by Warner Brothers, Universal, and Paramount, offers almost as much capacity as Blu-ray. But its technology offers an easier entry to market as existing DVD makers can upgrade their processes to manufacture HD DVDs.
Forget about the studios having any influence on the discussion. During a Los Angeles home entertainment conference, Hollywood studio executives rebuffed a question on their influence in breaking the three year old deadlock. Paramount home entertainment president Thomas Lesinski said it would be “counterproductive” to comment on those talks, according to the New York Times.
The response hung in the air like a gunshot. But the question remained unanswered, probably because there is no answer. With both Sony and Toshiba not backing down to find a compromise, Hollywood has found itself having no influence on the discussion.
Although the HD DVD supporters have 89 movies scheduled for fourth quarter release, they may find consumers unwilling to be early adopters of what will be high priced HD DVD players, possibly in the $1,000 range.
Minimal HD DVD adoption would be very bad news for the studios. With theater ticket sales performing poorly, DVD releases have been where Hollywood makes its money on films. In the face of endless gas price increases and an estimated 80 percent home penetration of existing DVD players, Hollywood is going to find pushing early adoption of new blue laser DVD players difficult.
Getting two standards into households just doesn’t look like it is going to happen.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
