Blu-ray and HD-DVD agree to work on a unified format

April 30, 2005

Xecuter2 used our news submit to let us know about the latest news in the progress for a unified next generation DVD standard. As you may know, there are talks currently in progress between the companies behind the two competing formats; Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

It seems that they are very close to their aim to avoid a new format war by finding a compromise to bring the two formats in alignment. The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported yesterday that Toshiba and Sony are expected to announce that they have abandoned the two formats and that they are working on a medium that will bring together both standards later this month.

While it is commonly accepted that Blu-ray discs offer more storage space than HD-DVDs, electronics companies and Hollywood studios have remained divided over the two formats due in large to the manufacturing processes. In short, the DVD infrastructures already in place would serve HD-DVD manufacturers. However, costly new facilities and operations would need to be created in order to support the Blu-ray format.

Sony and Toshiba have remained in negotiations on the subject for weeks, with key company executives from each camp dropping hints that a unified standard would be optimal.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that, having reached an agreement that a new, unified standard would be the best thing for the industry; Sony and Toshiba are now in the process of designing the new standard, which seeks to take the strengths from each medium and combine them.

Well, what does this mean for us? How will this new format look and will this new format be compatible with the currently developed devices for HD-DVD and BD? What does this mean for the plans of HD-DVD to release the first movies on HD-DVD as well as for Sony's plans on the release of their next gaming console, the Playstation 3? All these questions will hopefully be answered in the near future.

Source: IGN.com