Yet another "battle of the formats"

According to the latest news

"Computer giants Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have lined up behind the next generation DVD standard known as HD DVD, in a blow against Sony which is hoping that its Blu-ray format will be the media of choice for portable data storage.

The decision by the companies that are the dominant suppliers of chips and operating software for most of the world's personal computers increases the chances that the HD DVDs will become the standard media format of the future.

HD DVD's are also backed by Toshiba, Universal Studios, NEC Corp., Sanyo Electric Co., Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, Viacom, NBC Universal, and Paramount. Sony's Blu-ray format is backed by Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, MGM, and 20th Century Fox.

The move means that the vast majority of personal computers will come with built-in support for HD DVD's while users wishing to install a Blu-ray drive will also have to install new software.

Industry analysts say the battle is reminiscent of the struggle between Sony and JVC in the early 1980's when each company tried to establish its video format as the industry standard. Eventually JVC's VHS technology triumphed despite what many experts believed was the superior technical quality of Sony's Betamax format.

Supporters of Blu-ray claim they have a more sophisticated technology with a greater storage capacity and stronger copy protection. HD DVD companies have pointed to the fact that their offering will be available sooner and at less cost to content providers.

"We wanted to choose the format that has the highest probability of this market taking off," said Stephen Balogh, director of optical media standards and technologies at Intel."