“Format War”: Fact Or Fiction…?

[Jeff®]

"FORMAT WAR": FACT OR FICTION...?

Just when you thought everyone was settling down for the holidays — the season of "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men" — we're bombarded with industry media coverage about "the format war."

Lately it seems like the coverage is reaching a fever pitch with headlines declaring an early victory for either Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD.

In reality, many insiders say there's so much industry support for Blu-ray that discussion about a "format war" will seem irrelevant in the long run.

Blu-ray Disc has the support of nearly every major consumer electronics company, leading computing companies and, as Andy notes below, just about every major studio in Hollywood.

In addition, most experts agree that Blu-ray has the technical advantage (mainly due to its greater capacity for movies, games and other content as well as for data storage and recording).

Given the limitations of the other format — far fewer studios cranking out movies, far fewer manufacturers selling products, far less capacity overall — the whole notion of a "format war" does seem overblown.

In any case, snappy headlines aside, it's still early in the game. Blu-ray Disc hardware has only just hit the shelves, studios are just starting to distribute content and consumers are just beginning to experience what full 1080p Blu-ray high-definition picture quality looks like.

Perhaps the real battle ahead is less of a "format war" and more about helping people understand what the transition to high-definition is all about.

Marty Gordon
Vice President, Philips Hollywood office

http://blogs.zdnet.com/blu-ray/