Sony & Toshiba both agree that unified HD format is very slim
Posted on 10/06/05 00:13 by Seán Byrne                             
Sony & Toshiba both agree that unified HD format is very slim

Just over two months ago, Sony and Toshiba began making negotiations for a unified next generation HD disc standard.  This seemed to go well until last month when Toshiba announced that they have no plans on accepting Blu-ray's disc structure for a unified format.  As a result, their negotiation plans have pretty much fallen apart since that time.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi gave his own view, commenting that he decided on Blu-ray for their upcoming game console, the Playstation 3 as a result of slim chances of a unified disk standard going through.  Managing director at Toshiba, Yoshihide Fujii has given similar doubts about a unified format.  He also mentioned that HD-DVD's 30GB is enough for the movie studios, cheaper to produce by using existing DVD production lines and more attractive for consumers looking for low cost media.  He also mentioned that there is no need to have extreme capacity.

Both Sony and Toshiba each went their own ways back in 2002 when it came to creating the next generation disc format and it was not until February this year that they tried negotiating on a unified format.  However, analysts now see that an agreement is virtually impossible with each company seeing their own format as superior to the other company's format. 

Sony Computer Entertainment president says there's little chance of a unified disc format becoming a reality; Toshiba's president concurs.

TOKYO--Just over two months ago, a truce was declared in the three-year war between the Blu-ray and HD-DVD factions as Sony and Toshiba began negotiations on a unified next-generation disc standard. However, talks fell apart after Toshiba announced last month that it has no plans to accept Blu-ray's disc structure as the base for a unified standard.

Talking to the press on June 8, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi offered his own view on the issue of a unified next-generation disc standard for the first time. He commented that he made the decision to adopt the Blu-ray disc format for the PlayStation 3 because he thinks the chances of coming up with a unified disc standard in the future are slim. "There's very little chance that the negotiations will go through," stated Kutaragi, who said "product planning" for the PS3's launch forced a decision on Sony.

Read the full article here.

As many people now say, not having a unified is probably better as each side will begin competing on trying to make their media more attractive such as lower pricing, faster performance and so on.  The only people that are really complaining about this are the movie studios since they do not want to have at least two formats for movies on the next generation disc format, not to mention a version on DVD format and even UMD to cover existing consumers.  Imagine renting a movie, only to find the clerk asking 'Would you like that on DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, UMD or VHS?".

If Blu-ray media does cost considerably more than HD-DVD, it will be interesting to see whether consumers will be willing to pay the extra for the higher capacity format.  For example, while 8.5GB dual/double layer DVD media is available, we don't see these selling anywhere as much as single layer DVD media due to a significant price difference. 

Feel free to discuss about Blu-ray and HD-DVD on our Satellite, HD-TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD Forum.  To read about the differences between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, see this article.

Source: GameSpot News

Reactions
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By punistation, Friday 10 June 2005 02:04
punistationBETA was higher quality than VHS, and cost just a *little* bit more at the video store. Now it's only used by the industry. History repeats?
By Wolfhour, Friday 10 June 2005 04:55
WolfhourAh, but BETA couldn't match VHS in record time (5 hrs vs. 8). In this instance, it is Sony/BD with the superior storage capacity...perhaps they learned from past mistakes?Smilie
By gileswa1, Friday 10 June 2005 09:29
The problem with VHS and Beta was you had to commit yourself to one or he other, as did the movie distributors. Blue-Ray and HD-DVD look like the are going the same way. Although I'm sure somebody like Lite-On will produce a consumer unit that will play both formats. Unlike the DVD -/+ formats where it doesn't make a jot of difference which format you choose because the are both designed to play in existing units. They look the same, play the same and generally work the same all round (give or take the odd technical difference where in my opinion the + format comes out on top but that's another old story) With HD-DVD & Blu-Ray I'll think I'll wait. Looks like Double layer +/- disks will get enough time to mature after all. l
By FreqNasty, Friday 10 June 2005 09:55
The -R discs appear to be kicking the butts of the +R. Seems anywhere i go or look there is always more choice of -R than +R.
By Kenshin, Friday 10 June 2005 12:22
Widen your view.
By gileswa1, Friday 10 June 2005 12:51
--------------------------------------- The -R discs appear to be kicking the butts of the +R. Seems anywhere I go or look there is always more choice of -R than +R. --------------------------------------- Odd, because for me it's the other way around. You only have to go to your local PC World to see that. Anyway, enjoy your minus disks, I'm sure you'll both be very happy.
[edited by G@M3FR3@K on 10.06.2005 14:07]
By FidelC, Friday 10 June 2005 15:40
FidelCI heard -R store a bit more data. Besides, it is a "dash", not minus. supergrin
By Bruce Ballslap, Friday 10 June 2005 16:42
"Sony & Tosibha both agree that unified HD format is very slim" So how slim will this new unified format be? What about scratch resistance? Stick Out Tongue
By FidelC, Friday 10 June 2005 16:57
FidelCIt'll be slim, lean, no fat, high on steroids... but scratchy Smilie
By JamesL, Saturday 11 June 2005 19:21
>>>> Odd, because for me it's the other way around <<<<< I guess you're probably in the UK then. Everywhere else DVD-R seems to dominate.
By DeJohn, Saturday 11 June 2005 20:29
Consumers agree that adoption of an un-unified HD format is very slim
By cynicalbastard, Sunday 12 June 2005 06:40
...and some consumers couldn't care less, as long as they can back up their own creative output onto a reliable, cheap, high capacity backup medium.
By nuggetreggae, Monday 13 June 2005 02:58
hmmmm i think blu-ray and hd-dvd will become mainstream..... at about the same time as dvd-a and sacd do. And lets face it, dvd-a and it's competing format sacd players have flooded the market everywhere...NOT!!! loveitStick Out Tongueloveit
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