Well, at least it's getting some practical press coverage...

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Disney endorsement deadlocks disc format war
The Asahi Shimbun

The Walt Disney Co.'s endorsement Wednesday of the Blu-ray technology has increased the possibility that consumers, electronics manufacturers or both will be the real losers of the format war over next-generation video discs.

Disney's decision to release video on Blu-ray discs almost evenly divides U.S. movie studios into two groupings.

Disney joined Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. in support of the Blu-ray format promoted by Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Together, the four studios accounted for an estimated 47 percent of DVD sales in the United States during the first six months of this year.

Last week, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., New Line Cinema Corp., Universal Studios Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corp., which hold a combined 45-percent market share, announced that they will produce video in the HD-DVD format, a technology pushed by Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. that is incompatible with Blu-ray.

Disney's announcement has all but eliminated any incentive for developers to explore a compromise before a number of players and recorders hit the market next year, analysts say.

A two-way split will result in a much-feared replay of the classic VHS-Betamax showdown in the videocassette recorder market, which left some consumers with a vast library of unusable Beta videos.

Electronics manufacturers could also pay dearly.

Consumers have few reasons to hurry their decision on which of the competing standards to choose, particularly because many are believed to be content with current-generation DVDs.

Next-generation DVDs such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs may wind up being high-end products that will never become mainstream, analysts say.

The lobbying of electronics manufacturers in Tinseltown is also far from over.

Warner, Disney and Twentieth Century Fox, aware of the risks of betting on a losing horse, have all refused to rule out the possibility they may release videos in the competing format.

``The battleground has entirely shifted to Hollywood,' said an executive of a Japanese company that backs Blu-ray.

Engineers are wary of the growing clout of U.S. movie studios, which, as the dominant content providers, hold a vital vote in the format war.

``Key development principles may be sacrificed if (companies) go all out to win the backing of studios,' said an official in charge of technological development at an electronics manufacturer.

Some industry officials even speculate that by not giving a definitive advantage to either standard, the Hollywood studios may be trying to delay the introduction of next-generation discs, which call for huge capital investments.(IHT/Asahi: December 11,2004)