Standards Battles and Design Dominance Blu-ray versus HD-DVD: A Standards Battle in
High-Definition Video From 2003 to 2008, Sony and Toshiba waged a high-stakes war for control over the next-generation video format. Sony's technology was called Blu-ray, and had the backing of a consortium that included Philips, Matsushita, Hita-chi, and others. Toshiba's technology was HD-DVD, and had the backing of the DVD Forum, making it the "official" successor to the DVD format.' Both new formats used blue laser light, which has a much shorter wavelength than the red laser light used in conventional CD and DVD players, and thus can read much denser information.b The technology was intended to deliver a theater-like experience at home, with brilliantly clear video and surround-sound audio, on high-end LCD and plasma televisions. c The formats, how-ever, would be incompatible. Consumers, retailers, and movie producers all groaned at the prospect of a format war similar to the battle that had taken place between Sony's Betamax and JVC's VHS video standard, three decades earlier. That war had left many bloodied—consumers who bought Betamax players, for example, found that very few movies were ultimately made available in the format, and retailers got stuck with unwanted inven-tory in Betamax players and movies. The threat of another format war caused many retailers and consumers to delay their purchases of the next-generation players while they waited to see if the market would pick a winner. Fearing a lengthy and costly battle, consumer electronics producers began working on players that would be compatible with both standards, even though that would significantly increase their cost. By early 2008, Toshiba had lined up several major Hollywood studios for its format, including Time Warner's Warner Brothers, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation, and NBC Universal's Universal Pictures. Sony had its own Sony Pictures Entertainment, Disney, News Corporation's 20th Century Fox, and Lions Gate Entertainment. Both companies also used video game consoles to promote their standards—Sony's Playstation 3 incorporated a Blu-ray device,
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