Disney Backs Blu-Ray But Won't Rule Out HD DVD

Disney and its Buena Vista Home Entertainment Division have thrown their considerable weight behind the Blu-ray standard for next-generation DVDs, escalating the battle between this format and HD DVDs.

Sony (NYSE: SNE), Samsung, Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are among the other companies that are promoting Blu-ray. Warner Bros. Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema announced almost two weeks ago that they would back Toshiba's HD DVD.

No Compatibility

"The most relevant fact for consumers right now is that there's no compatibility between the two," Jeff Joseph, vice president of the Consumer Electronics Association, told TechNewsWorld.

Disney has not ruled out the release of HD DVD format movies. It merely stated that it would release movies in the Blu-ray format as soon as players are released in North America. That is expected to happen in early 2006.

The studios backing HD DVD have also signed non-exclusive arrangements. That technology is expected to be available sooner because it requires fewer modifications to existing DVD technology. At this point, it is also cheaper than Blu-ray to produce.

Blu-ray discs can store more data, but HD DVD supporters say it more efficiently writes data to discs.

The bottom line, Joseph said, is that incompatibility may define choices. "If you want to watch Disney movies, then you'll choose Blu-ray," he said. "If you have legacy equipment, you'll choose what is compatible."

Two Possible Paths

One of two things will happen, Joseph said: Either the market will shake out as it did with Beta and VHS in the 1980s, or the technology will move toward interoperability so that it won't matter which device a consumer owns. In the meantime, competition is likely to keep prices in check.

So which to buy?

"The key for consumers is research," Joseph said. Factor in the movies you're likely to watch, price and availability, and then make an informed choice.

Joseph called the high-definition DVDs "the next great wave in the digital transition" and noted that another consideration for consumers will be the types of copy protections the two technology manufacturers choose to use.

Consumers want to be able to easily make "fair use" of the content they purchase, such as burning a copy of a movie to watch on a portable DVD player in the car and keeping the original at home. Checking the type of copy protection built into the technologies is another differentiator consumers should investigate, Joseph said.