Hollywood Locked in Clash Over Next Generation of DVD
The topic of new DVD formats was patently avoided at a recent home entertainment conference, the New York Times reports. The topic that was not adressed is the choice between emerging technologies: Blue-ray and HD DVD formats.
While the Blue-ray format allows for a lot more data and special features packed onto every DVD, the HD format is a more simple upgrading of existing technology (it’s cheaper).
The various studios (Sony and Disney backing Blue-ray, Paramount, Universal and Warner backing HD, the rest undecided) have staked their reputations on the new formats, not to mention a lot of money, turning the debate into a political quagmire, not just a monetary one.
In the near future, one of these two technologies will become obsolete, a’la the Betamax machine, and tens of millions of dollars in sales hang in the balance of these negotiations.
When the moderator of the home entertainment conference did bring up the topic, “Before anyone could answer, Thomas Lesinski, president of home entertainment at Paramount Pictures, jumped in and said it would not benefit the studios to discuss the issue in public while behind-the-scenes negotiations were going on.”
Full NYT article here.