Blu-ray & HD-DVD to unite?

[-zombie-]

Sony May Unite Blu-ray Disc, HD-DVD

Top exec says the two competing formats may come together.

Paul Kallender, IDG News Service
Thursday, March 24, 2005

After more than a year of touting Blu-ray Disc as the best technology to replace DVD for storing high-definition video, a top executive at Sony, one of Blu-ray's major backers, has opened the door to the possibility of unifying the format with its arch rival, HD-DVD.

"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," Ryoji Chubachi, Sony's president-elect, said at a news conference Thursday in which he discussed the company's performance and future strategy.

The statement may surprise backers of the rival camps, who have assembled consortiums of major electronics companies, disc makers, and Hollywood studios to promote the formats in a battle that echoes one fought a quarter of a century ago between Betamax and VHS.

HD-DVD backers, which include NEC and Toshiba, say HD-DVDs can be produced for about the same price as DVDs and are backward-compatible with DVDs and CDs, making the format more convenient for both consumers and the industry. HD-DVD movie titles, PC drives, and players are all due out by the end of the year.

Sony has steadfastly promoted Blu-ray as a technology that has greater capacity, saying this makes the format more useful because more content can be stored on a disc. The technology also has wider support in the technology industry, although release dates for movie titles have not yet been announced.

Reaching a Compromise

Chubachi's comments mark the second time that a Sony executive has signaled the possibility of a compromise between the two camps. In January, Ken Kutaragi, executive deputy president of Sony, said a format war was not in the public interest and that Sony had not ruled out the possibility of uniting the formats.

As Sony's future president, Chubachi's remarks Thursday may carry more weight. Currently head of Sony's electronic components and manufacturing businesses, he will replace Kunitake Ando as Sony president on June 22 following the recent shake-up of Sony's top management. That shake-up saw Kutaragi step down from Sony's board, although he still heads its important gaming business.

Kutaragi also admitted in January that Sony, by supporting its proprietary audio encoding system and not the widely-supported MP3 format, had lost ground to competitors such as Apple Computer in the portable music player market, which Sony had once dominated with the Walkman.

While Sony's technological and engineering base is sound, the company must ensure that its products are aligned with the wants of consumers, Chubachi said. Sony's engineers have traditionally been regarded within the company as heroes and the creators of new markets, but recently their ideas have not always led to products that matched consumers' needs, he said.

[hmurchison]

I don't see many areas to compromise in other than Patent Pool/Royalties.

BD is the preferrable format provided it's not too expensive. We're going to need a few more hints as to where these formats can unify to ease concerns.

[-zombie-]

On another forum someone mentioned a possibility where pre-recorded movies would be HD-DVD and Blu-ray would be strictly for recording due to its increased storage capacity. The ability to easily re-tool DVD manufacturing plants for HD-DVD is cause for concern as IMO I see no way that they're going to be willing to use BD for pre-recorded movies due to this very reason. Another perspective I read elsewhere mentioned that Sony, Disney, and Fox could release "Superbit" versions of their movies on Blu-ray which would max the a/v quality for a/v enthusiasts while others could buy the same movie for a little cheaper on HD-DVD. I don't know how exactly a merger would pan out but I do think the majority of consumers would prefer one HD disc format, not two so a merger would be best in the long run for all parties involved.

[Gorkab]

Originally Posted by n2blu

On another forum someone mentioned a possibility where pre-recorded movies would be HD-DVD and Blu-ray would be strictly for recording due to its increased storage capacity. The ability to easily re-tool DVD manufacturing plants for HD-DVD is cause for concern as IMO I see no way that they're going to be willing to use BD for pre-recorded movies due to this very reason. Another perspective I read elsewhere mentioned that Sony, Disney, and Fox could release "Superbit" versions of their movies on Blu-ray which would max the a/v quality for a/v enthusiasts while others could buy the same movie for a little cheaper on HD-DVD. I don't know how exactly a merger would pan out but I do think the majority of consumers would prefer one HD disc format, not two so a merger would be best in the long run for all parties involved.

Normal quality & Best Quality... Can consumers follow this kind of movement ? I don't think so because it would cost too much for the companies to release massive titles for one format and a few good ones for the other, one of the two will of course end by lack of money...

The thing is that Sony is showing signs of redemption... Maybe they are afraid of being drawn out of the new business that will be opened first by the HD-DVD... The first is always buy, not by many, but buy... And if after, the new format is more expensive, consumers will automatically take the cheaper one... That's blowing me out... I love Blu-Ray and I would like it to be THE format... But it feels like things are changing... Shit...

[thunderhawk]

yeah, I got the same feeling about this too...

Again, the advantages of BD have been forgotten...

[Rob]

Does anyone actually bother with superbit dvds though? IME the difference is hardly worth getting excited about. Most people would rather have the extras.

[-zombie-]

Originally Posted by Rob

Does anyone actually bother with superbit dvds though? IME the difference is hardly worth getting excited about. Most people would rather have the extras.

When I was still collecting DVDs I owned almost all of the then available Superbits. I never had time nor any interest in bonus materials. I know many prefer to have extras with each movie they buy but there are a considerable amount of persons who are like me and are happy to have the movie only, providing it's in great quality.

[erdega79]

This seems like Sony is giving Toshiba a graceful way to exit the arena since Sony's format is preferred for technical reasons and supported by a much bigger association.
These 2 formats can not physically unite but Toshiba may be given some leeway and compensation to giving up a fight and giving blu ray green light.

[thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by erdega79

This seems like Sony is giving Toshiba a graceful way to exit the arena since Sony's format is preferred for technical reasons and supported by a much bigger association.
These 2 formats can not physically unite but Toshiba may be given some leeway and compensation to giving up a fight and giving blu ray green light.

... what is not likely to happen...