The Melee Over Movies
By David LaGesse
A dreaded format war is looming over the next generation of DVD players like the ghost of Betamax past. But now it seems this battle might actually benefit high-definition-TV fans long stymied by the lack of decent programming for their eye-popping sets: The competition could force the new disk players to plunge in price faster than any previous home electronics product has
This time, Sony--which lost with Betamax--has the upper hand. Blu-ray recently gained momentum when it won the support of MGM and Warner Bros., meaning five of the six major Hollywood studios endorse Sony's standard. Only three studios are backing HD DVD, and only one of those--Universal--is exclusively committed. "The studios have decided the war is over," says Richard Doherty, a research director at Envisioneering Group, and Blu-ray has won. So HD DVD appears to be on the ropes in the entertainment arena.
Bargain battle. That's where things get juicy for consumers. Toshiba's best hope is to grab the market first, and HD DVD players are expected to go on sale early next year, several months before Blu-ray's. Reports suggest Toshiba might flood the marketplace with cheap players, using Chinese manufacturers to conquer market share before Blu-ray can even get its boat docked. "It will accelerate the flight to the bottom [of prices]," says Ted Schadler, a market analyst at Forrester Research. "That's just crazy for manufacturers."
But it's great for consumers. Cheap labor at Chinese factories drove down the price of DVD players, which now can be found for less than $30. The first HD DVD players will still be expensive, at $1,000. The first Blu-ray player, meanwhile, will be built into Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, due sometime next spring at an unannounced price.
All of the next-generation devices will also play old-style DVD s. "We expect DVD s to be around a long time," says Andy Parsons, a Blu-ray spokesman and Pioneer Electronics executive. DVD s, by the way, emerged after the same adversaries hammered out a last-minute compromise on a compatible format. But talks to unify on a high-def format broke down and don't appear likely to resume. At this point, a single standard would also mean a delay in getting players out, and neither side wants downloadable, high-definition shows and movies available on the Internet first. High-definition programming remains too bulky to download now, but that will change soon, and the disk makers must move quickly, says Forrester's Schadler: "They're grabbing at the tail of a rocket ship."
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By David LaGesse
A dreaded format war is looming over the next generation of DVD players like the ghost of Betamax past. But now it seems this battle might actually benefit high-definition-TV fans long stymied by the lack of decent programming for their eye-popping sets: The competition could force the new disk players to plunge in price faster than any previous home electronics product has
This time, Sony--which lost with Betamax--has the upper hand. Blu-ray recently gained momentum when it won the support of MGM and Warner Bros., meaning five of the six major Hollywood studios endorse Sony's standard. Only three studios are backing HD DVD, and only one of those--Universal--is exclusively committed. "The studios have decided the war is over," says Richard Doherty, a research director at Envisioneering Group, and Blu-ray has won. So HD DVD appears to be on the ropes in the entertainment arena.
Bargain battle. That's where things get juicy for consumers. Toshiba's best hope is to grab the market first, and HD DVD players are expected to go on sale early next year, several months before Blu-ray's. Reports suggest Toshiba might flood the marketplace with cheap players, using Chinese manufacturers to conquer market share before Blu-ray can even get its boat docked. "It will accelerate the flight to the bottom [of prices]," says Ted Schadler, a market analyst at Forrester Research. "That's just crazy for manufacturers."
But it's great for consumers. Cheap labor at Chinese factories drove down the price of DVD players, which now can be found for less than $30. The first HD DVD players will still be expensive, at $1,000. The first Blu-ray player, meanwhile, will be built into Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, due sometime next spring at an unannounced price.
All of the next-generation devices will also play old-style DVD s. "We expect DVD s to be around a long time," says Andy Parsons, a Blu-ray spokesman and Pioneer Electronics executive. DVD s, by the way, emerged after the same adversaries hammered out a last-minute compromise on a compatible format. But talks to unify on a high-def format broke down and don't appear likely to resume. At this point, a single standard would also mean a delay in getting players out, and neither side wants downloadable, high-definition shows and movies available on the Internet first. High-definition programming remains too bulky to download now, but that will change soon, and the disk makers must move quickly, says Forrester's Schadler: "They're grabbing at the tail of a rocket ship."
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