New Technology TV

Warner Brothers is taking a step that could end the format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray high definition DVD formats. The format war started when both Sony and Toshiba released their own proprietary high definition DVD formats at almost the same time. Both formats are capable of storing enough data to make up a high definition movie plus all of its bonus features on a single optical disc the same size of a standard DVD or compact disc. The format war is the result of the fact that Blu-ray disc players cannot play HD-DVD discs, and HD-DVD players cannot play Blu-ray discs. The format war has also resulted in consumers- who are already somewhat confused by high definition television in general- being slow to adopt either format for fear of being left with useless equipment and or discs down the road. Warner Brothers has developed a technology that may not break the stalemate between Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-ray formats, but may at least prompt consumers to buy either type of player with more confidence. This technology allows a single disc to store data in both the Blu-ray format and the HD-DVD format. That means that regardless of whether a consumer has a Blu-ray player or an HD-DVD player, he or she can purchase a movie on one of these discs and it will play on either player.

These discs take advantage of the fact with the HD-DVD format, the data is encoded in a much deeper layer of the disc than with the Blu-ray format. In effect, these discs contain both a Blu-ray version of the movie and an HD-DVD version of the movie on the same disc.

While some people in the electronics industry decry the introduction of these discs as a bad idea because it will harm consumers, it's difficult to see how the introduction could do any harm to consumers. High definition DVD's manufactured using this technology will supposedly cost about the same amount as Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, and if they become widespread, consumers will be able to simply buy high def DVD's without having to worry about whether they're Blu-ray discs or HD-DVD discs. In this sense, it will make things a lot less confusing for consumers.

Of course this technology is a threat to both Toshiba and Sony in many ways. That's because if one of them can achieve a decisive victory in the format war, the winner will have access to a good deal of money from licensing and royalties from the technology. This type of technology would, in effect, make it a moot point if either format won the war, so long as one of them did. The threat of both formats disappearing under this scenario is probably nonexistent.

Another thing the makes it appear that this will in fact be a successful development is that several large electronics distributors like the hybrid discs enough that they've agreed to market them. If the hybrids are then successful, it will probably be only a matter of time before more motion picture studios and software companies start to take advantage of the manufacturing technique.