Sony and Toshiba stand like two old samurai waiting for the other to flinch in the DVD duel. Toshiba seems to be getting annoyed with the powerful Sony, the Shogun of Japanese electronics firms. Parley attempts remain at a standstill and Toshiba say little ground will be gained until Sony softens its attitude on the unification of the DVD formats.
Yoshihide Fujii, Toshiba’s top courtier, told reporters today that “the Sony side failed to provide enough evidence that its format has a clear advantage over ours in terms of cost and range of applications.”
The primary territory of contention would seem to be the structure of the DVD. The technology is essentially the same in many way. Both DVD formats utilize a blue laser that will higher density disks. Sony uses two, 25-gig layers for total of 50 gigs. Toshiba has three 15 gig layers for a total of 45.
Sony, with the Blu-Ray format plans to use it in their upcoming PS3 game console and has several companies lined up with them. Dutch electronics giant Phillips as well as Dell Computer and Samsung are flying with Blu-Ray right now. Electronics companies Sanyo and NEC as well as movie companies Warner Brothers, Paramount and Universal are lining up with Toshiba’s HD-DVD format. But all parties agree that a universal format is the best for all.
Most experts agree that the movie companies, of which Sony is a large one, will eventually way heavily into this discussion. Another issue may be the recent alliance between Microsoft and Toshiba to share patent rights with one another. This could give Microsoft an edge in it’s battle for game console supremacy against the mighty Sony.
This duel has been building for years now and someone will be forced to draw their blade soon as the formats should be out by the end of the year. Only time will know the outcome of this great duel.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
