War Averted

Good news for a change: Sony and Toshiba have agreed to settle on a unified next-generation DVD format.

Sony, Toshiba join forces for next-generation DVD standard

Two groups led by Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. that have been at odds over the standard for next-generation DVDs have reached an agreement and are in the final stages of deciding on a third standard, it has been learned.

The two sides are reportedly aiming to come to an agreement on the new high-capacity standard this month. If a single standard is adopted, it will avoid incompatibility such as that which occurred between VHS and Beta video players and tapes.

Japanese firms have been aiming to launch a next-generation DVD standard at the end of this year. Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. have been promoting the low-cost HD DVD format. Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co. (Panasonic), on the other hand, have favored the higher-capacity Blu-ray Disc standard. The two standards are incompatible, and both sides have been at odds over them for the past three years.

In the entertainment industry, Warner Bros. and Universal have remained in the HD DVD camp, while others such as Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox have supported Blu-ray. Under such opposition, digital content such as movies would be viewable only with the corresponding player, and this conflict has threatened to hinder software sales.

In a bid to reach a compromise, Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., which have led the two opposing groups, have come together and are reportedly in the final stages of reaching an agreement. They are reportedly looking to produce a "third standard" that incorporates the benefits of both formats. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, April 21, 2005)

This avoids all sorts of chaos, and should certainly mean that PlayStation 3 will launch with a storage medium superior to DVD-ROM. Say "Fuck No!" to multi-disc games!