Blu-Ray`HD-DVD merge into single unified format

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next-generation high-density high-definition blue-laser DVD format war
OVER !


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http://ps2.ign.com/articles/606/606547p1.html

Blu-ray and HD-DVD Join Forces
Sony and Toshiba to team up on a new, unified next-gen format. Where
does
PS3 fit in?

April 21, 2005 - According to a report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the

next-generation format war may be over before it ever starts. The
Japanese
newspaper on Thursday published with news that Sony and Toshiba are
expected
to make an announcement later this month that they have abandoned the
Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats respectively and are working on a new medium
that
will bring together both standards.


Sony, a leading member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, announced last
year
that it would include a Blu-ray drive in its forthcoming
next-generation
console, PlayStation 3. More than 100 companies, including Apple,
Panasonic,
HP, and Pioneer, support Blu-ray, which promises up to 50 gigabytes of
storage on a single disc side. Toshiba leads the opposing format,
HD-DVD.
While it is commonly accepted that Blu-ray discs offer more storage
space
than HD-DVDs, electronics companies and Hollywood studios have remained

divided over the two formats due in large to the manufacturing
processes. In
short, the DVD infrastructures already in place would serve HD-DVD
manufacturers. However, costly new facilities and operations would need
to
be created in order to support the Blu-ray format.

Sony and Toshiba have remained in negotiations on the subject for
weeks,
with key company executives from each camp dropping hints that a
unified
standard would be optimal.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that, having reached an agreement that
a
new, unified standard would be the best thing for the industry, Sony
and
Toshiba are now in the process of designing the new standard, which
seeks to
take the strengths from each medium and combine them.

Sony has reportedly suggested using Blu-ray's disc structure and
HD-DVD's
software technology while Toshiba has suggested keeping HD-DVD's disc
structure and applying Sony's multi-layer data-recording technology.

The Japanese paper reports that both companies are eager to reach an
agreement in order to avoid the format wars that initially confused
consumers and hindered both the VHS and DVD eras. The two electronics
giants
have already briefed major Hollywood studios including Disney and AOL
Time
Warner on the idea of a new, unified standard, according to the paper.

The big question is, what does this news mean for PlayStation 3, which
is
scheduled to release sometime next year? The very probable answer is
that
the next-generation machine will drop Sony's announced Blu-ray drive in

favor of hardware that instead plays this new, still-announced format
compromise.
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