January 6th 2007

Multiple Solutions For Blu-Ray / HD-DVD Split To Be Unveiled

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It's been a while since we reported on the phoney war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, partly because you, the consumer, has voted with your wallet and told us that you just aren't interested. However, the news of a variety of potential solutions to the incompatibilities between the formats has stirred DVD Recorder World into writing a pre-CES roundup.

Firstly lets remind ourselves of the current position. Blu-Ray, supported by Sony and HD-DVD, supported by Toshiba are both souped-up versions of DVD, with a significantly larger storage capacity. Hence they are able to carry video in high-definition. Critics are divided as to which is the best format, with the balance of opinion just falling on the side of Blu-Ray, mainly because of its slightly larger capacity. The problem is that the two formats are incompatible - think VHS and Betamax - so consumers are being asked to make a choice that ties them into buying discs of one type only. With players costing not much shy of £1000, this is an expensive decision to get wrong.

There were moves just before the players came to market to produce a hybrid format, but they came to nothing. The commercial will was not there from Sony and Toshiba.

However, others have not been so keen to see the market split in such a way, and there will be two key products unveiled at CES 2007 in Las Vegas this week.

Firstly Time Warner has said it will unveil a new high-definition disc that would hold recordings in the rival HD DVD and Blu-ray formats in separate layers. They are calling the product Total HD or Total Hi-Def according to some reports.

In addition, LG will unveil a player that supports both formats. Details, including pricing and availability, will become available at CES, the company said.

Commentators are suggesting that the LG product will have a greater impact than Time Warner's new disc, mainly because that at this stage only Time Warner will be releasing movies on the format, limiting its appeal to consumers.