Blu-Ray, HD DVD format war heats up

HOLLYWOOD WILL probably decide which camp wins in the mass-storage war between Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats, informed sources tell the INQUIRER.

But in the meantime, the major manufacturers are performing the usual little dances so that they'll be well placed to benefit from whatever Hollywood decides.

One camp for mass optical disk storage has Sony, Matsushita and other fellow travellers lining up to support Blu-Ray.

Toshiba and NEC belong to the HD DVD camp, and they're gearing up to increase production.

But in the meantime there's one giant firm which straddles both "standards" like the famous Colossus at Rhodes, although modern archaeology says it's a myth that vessels sailed into the harbour between the legs of bronzed Helios, the sun god. The statue was 100 feet high, but the width of the harbour mouth would have meant Helios' cojones would have suffered the first time a Carthaginian boat attempted the passage.

Quietly, however, Samsung and Toshiba signed a joint agreement in early April in which the Korean giant undertook to ramp up production of HD DVD for Toshiba. Toshiba's manufacturing capabilities are not great, but Samsung's are. And Samsung hasn't necessarily decided which way to jump, so far.

Just as mythical as ships sailing between Helios' legs is the notion that the much bigger formats associated with Blu-Ray and HD DVD will hold five films, or anything like that. As high definition TVs and LCD screens become cheaper and more pervasive, the new graphics formats associated with delivering the type of displays blockbuster movies will require will soak up the extra gigabytes that either Blu-Ray or HD DVD will provide.

Will Hollywood demand "regional" versions of players, which currently irritates the heck out of anyone who buys films worldwide? The answer, almost certainly, is yes.

Will you be able to play your current DVDs on the new players? Only if the manufacturers supply red lasers as well as blue lasers in the drives. Will they do that? Almost certainly, yes. µ