Studios taking sides in fight for successor to the DVD
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LOS ANGELES Three top Hollywood studios are throwing their considerable weight behind one of two competing formats for the next generation of high-definition DV-Ds, citing in part the need to stem rampant piracy.
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The battle for video and DVD rentals heated up this week as Blockbuster indicated it would seek to buy out rival Hollywood video and would do so by hostile takeover if necessary.
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It's clearly a blow, but retailers were divided on whether the move actually amounted to a death knell to the format, which is battling Blu-Ray.
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This is fantastic news and could possibly make the HD-DVD format the winner over the competing Blu-Ray technology.... Two Japanese companies said Tuesday they have developed a DVD that can play on both existing
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(InfoWorld) - The European Union's antitrust regulator has asked Hollywood studios to turn over information about their negotiations with the developers of high-definition DVD formats, giving them until the end of this week to respond. The European Commission is concerned that exclusive deals struck by some studios with the backers of either the HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc formats may be a sign of anticompetitive activity in the industry. HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are competing for the attention of movie studios, which are increasingly releasing their films in high-definition format alongside the regular DVDs carrying standard-definition versions of the films. The Commission began looking for evidence of a possible infringement of E.U. antitrust regulations on its own initiative: there have been no complaints from companies in the industry, said Audrey Lemonnier, press officer for the cabinet of European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes. The Commission wrote to a number of major studios in the first half of June, asking them for information about their dealings with the technology developers, Lemonnier said Tuesday. She would not say which studios received the letters, or how many were sent. The studios have until Friday to respond, she said. If the studios' answers give the Commission cause for doubt, it may launch a full investigation, she said. Film studios Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney release their high-definition content exclusively on Blu-ray Disc, although another member of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), Warner Bros. Entertainment, has a foot in both camps: It also releases films on HD DVD. Blu-ray Disc also has the backing of Sony, which uses a Blu-ray Disc player in its PlayStation 3 game console, and computer makers such as Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard. HD DVD has won the backing of Universal Studios, which releases high-definition movies exclusively in HD DVD format, and Microsoft, which uses it in its Xbox 360 game console. Over a million Blu-ray Discs have been sold to date, and 70 percent of high-definition video discs sold in the first quarter were in the Blu-ray format, according to the BDA. Anticompetitive activity can ultimately harm consumers, Lemonnier said. But consumers might prefer to see one format dominate the market, as VHS swept away videotape rival Betamax in an earlier battle over formats. As long as the two compete, and film studios choose one or the other, movie buffs are condemned to buy two players, or be unable to watch some films at home. Representatives for Blu-ray Disc backer Sony and HD DVD supporter Toshiba, and for the DVD Forum, which promotes the HD DVD format, all declined to comment on the Commission's action, saying that it was a matter for the Hollywood studios alone. The studios could not immediately be reached.
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Hollywoodâs squabble over which of two technologies will replace standard DVDs skewed in the direction of Sony Corporation on Friday, with Warner Brothers casting the deciding vote.
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It&#39;s a clash between the film industry and a consumer electronics company -- over a home theatre jukebox. The legal battle is over something called the Kaleidescape System.
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A patent application has been filed for   a disc that would play two competing high-definition DVD   formats which, if successful, could help appease a battle that   has divided Hollywood and confounded consumers.
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Electronic Arts, Vivendi Universal Games choose a side in the battle of next-gen DVD formats.
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A high-tech DVD format battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers is shaping up to be a 21st century version of the 1980s VHS/Betamax brawl.
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Three major movie studios have signed on for Sony&#39;s high-definition technology for the discs. But a competitor has drawn big support, too.
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Punches continue to be thrown in the fight over which next-generation DVD format will be established as the industry standard. (And there will be an industry standard, right corporate bigwigs?
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Consumers looking to upgrade their home theaters can now choose between two types of high-definition DVD players &#151; the confusing result of a long-running format war involving Hollywood studios and technology companies.
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When the history of the nearly three-year, high-definition DVD format war is written, this may be the point when both sides realized the end is near.
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On Thursday, January 6th, the two camps fighting over which side will control the high-definition DVD standard will host dueling press conferences.
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In the battle between the competing standards for the next generation of DVD, the Blu-ray group has raised the stakes again with the announcement that the Walt Disney Corporation is backing the Sony Corp led group and has joined as the 15th member of the
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DECEMBER 01, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - TOKYO -- The group supporting the HD-DVD optical disc format for high-definition video has received a boost in its battle against the rival Blu-ray Disc format with pledges of support from a number of Hollywood