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Disney Backs Sony's Blu-Ray for New DVD Format

Technology - Reuters


Disney Backs Sony's Blu-Ray for New DVD Format

Wed Dec 8,11:59 PM ET Technology - Reuters
LOS ANGELES/TOKYO (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co. said on Wednesday it would support the Blu-ray standard for next-generation DVDs backed by Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites)., but kept open its options for a rival format championed by Toshiba Corp.

Sony, Dell Inc. and several other giants of the electronics and computer industries developed Blu-ray technology. Toshiba, with NEC Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., is backing a competing standard dubbed HD DVD.

The HD (high-definition) DVD and Blu-ray technologies use blue lasers, which have shorter wavelengths than conventional red lasers and allow discs to store more data, producing the clearer and sharper pictures of high-definition films and TV.

Disney said it would start releasing movies on the Blu-ray format as soon as players became available in North America and Japan, which strategic planning chief Peter Murphy said he expected in 2006.

"Everyone is looking for the right format ... to release their content. That is a combination of consumer adoption of the players and the platform, content protection, and adequate capacity. We think Blu-ray is there," Murphy told Reuters in a phone interview.

Murphy said the agreement with Blu-ray was non-exclusive and that Disney would release content in other formats if they met the studio's criteria for consumer adoption, content capacity and copyright protection.

CLSA Asia Pacific Markets analyst Carlos Dimas said the announcement could be viewed as a positive for Blu-ray, but not a slam-dunk.

"It's positive, but it has not put Sony significantly ahead of the HD DVD standard. It continues to be a contest," he said.

Disney's announcement comes nearly two weeks after Toshiba said it had won support from Warner Bros, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, representing about 45 percent of Hollywood's U.S. sales of prepackaged DVDs.

Support from U.S. film studios is vital in the format battle, just as it was when the VHS standard prevailed over Sony's Betamax two decades ago.

Blu-ray also has the support of Sony Pictures and the tacit backing of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., recently acquired by a Sony-led consortium.

It is also counting on Fox Entertainment Group Inc.'s Twentieth Century Fox, which recently joined the Blu-ray Disc Association board, but a Fox spokesman said the studio was still evaluating both formats and had not committed to either.

Assuming Fox's support and adding Disney with its market share of 17.2 percent, Blu-ray would have 47 percent of Hollywood's prepackaged DVD sales, according to industry data provided by Toshiba for the six months to June 30.

Disney said it would become the 15th member of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which promotes the format.

"This is a big step for the BDA," said Sony spokesman Taro Takamine.

Shares of Sony were boosted by the news, rising 1.05 percent to 3,840 yen by the midday break and outperforming the Nikkei average's 1.22 percent decline. Toshiba was unchanged at 444 yen.

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Registered: Feb 2001
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If I remember correctly, you cannot play regular DVDs on a Blu-ray machine, but you can on the HD DVD player.

Disney is evil.

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so what format will NFL films forthcoming "2004 Philadelphia Eagles: A Road to the Super Bowl" be forged on to? Is the Blu-Ray powered by sugar plums and fairies? Does it recognize hopes and dreams?

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quote:

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Originally posted by mmmtravis
so what format will NFL films forthcoming "2004 Philadelphia Eagles: A Road to the Super Bowl" be forged on to? Is the Blu-Ray powered by sugar plums and fairies? Does it recognize hopes and dreams?

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quote:

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Originally posted by mmmtravis
so what format will NFL films forthcoming "2004 Philadelphia Eagles: A Road to the Super Bowl" be forged on to? Is the Blu-Ray powered by sugar plums and fairies? Does it recognize hopes and dreams?

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quote:

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Originally posted by pj
thanks for the 1st second round pick in the upcoming draft. That will be of great use to the Eagles.

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quote:

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Originally posted by mmmtravis
so what format will NFL films forthcoming "2004 Philadelphia Eagles: A Road to the Super Bowl" be forged on to? Is the Blu-Ray powered by sugar plums and fairies? Does it recognize hopes and dreams?

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MS is backing HD DVD.

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Optical media manufacturer Memory-Tech has announced that they will begin production of discs that can store data in both HD DVD and the current DVD format by the end of 2005. The discs work by combining two layers -- one DVD upper layer holding 4.7GB and a HD DVD layer on the bottom holding 15GB of data. Memory-Tech and Toshiba hope that the new discs will lead to wider adoption of the HD DVD format.

A battle has been underway for the past couple of years to determine the successor to today's DVD format. The contenders are blue-laser formats HD DVD and Blu-Ray, both of which can hold at least four times as much data as current DVDs. Blu-Ray, backed by Sony, Panasonic, and Mitsubishi, among others, can hold up to 25GB on single-layer discs and 50GB on double-layer discs. HD DVD is backed by NEC, Toshiba, and other companies. While it holds only 20GB of data, it is supposedly less expensive to manufacture as current manufacturing equipment can be retooled for the purpose.

The advantage of a dual-format disc is obvious: manufacturers could support both the new HD DVD format and current standard in one product. Thus consumers would not be forced to get rid of their DVD players (or replace their DVD optical drives in their PCs) in order to view content.

HD DVD scored another victory last week when a handful of major movie studios — Paramount, Universal Pictures, and Warner Brothers — announced they would begin releasing movies in the format in late 2005. In addition, Microsoft has announced support for HD DVD in Longhorn. Don't count Blu-Ray out though. In addition to the backing of a number of companies, Sony has plans to offer titles in the Blu-Ray format. One thing for certain: it is looking like another VHS vs. Betamax battle is inevitable. The result will be consumer confusion and pricing wars until one format triumphs or some sort of equilibrium is reached.

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quote:

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Originally posted by memdink
*snip*

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quote:

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Originally posted by mmmtravis
heh, hate to be the one to break it to you, but you can't pick a new head coach in the draft

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Registered: Aug 2001
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Is his regular season record not partly flattered by the shitty teams in their conference?

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The Rams won a Super Bowl despite Martz. not because of him. If you're lucky, the Eagles can do the same..

Last edited by mmmtravis on 12-11-2004 at 06:45 PM

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