Media Wonk

The new format war - January 4, 2007

So this is the way the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war ends? Not with one technology triumphing over the other and becoming the de facto industry standard, but by the whole mess being superseded by a new mess?
I don't know that I can stand it.
Dueling stories in the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the New York Times , respectively, Thursday morning pitted LG Electronic's expected unveiling of a dual-format players at the Consumer Electronics Show next week, against Warner Bros.' announcement that it has developed a dual-format disc that will play in either a Blu-ray or HD DVD drive.
Two different solutions to the format war: dual-format players vs. dual-format discs. Hardware vs. software. Another format war.
Doesn't anyone in this business talk to anyone else?
The real irony is that a studio would be proposing the dual-format disc, a configuration that can only increase the content owner's replication costs (Warner hasn't yet said what consumer pricing will be).
The dual-format player, by contrast, could actually provide the optimal solution for content owners unhappy with having to publish in two formats.
With players that can handle either format, a studio would be able to choose between the higher-capacity of Blu-ray and the lower cost of HD DVD on a title-by-title basis, making the decision on the basis of what is most appropriate for a particular title.
Depending on the program, a studio could choose a 15GB disc, a 25, a 30, a 50 or any other flavor the format camps develop, with a corresponding range of costs.
For now, though, it looks like we're going to have competiting approaches to a dual-format solution.
Shameless plug: I will be moderating the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD panel at CES, at noon on Monday, in room N254. Please check your weapons at the door.

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