Sony and Toshiba working on unified optical disk format
Sony and Toshiba working on unified optical disk format
Sony and Toshiba said they are in negotiations to resolve their competing next-generation optical disk formats, aiming to give consumers a unified video technology.
But both sides played down a report in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun that said the Japanese electronics makers were on the verge of agreeing on a compromise “hybrid” next-generation DVD format.
In the battle for a high-definition successor to DVDs, Sony (SNE) leads an international group promoting the Blu-ray disc format. A rival group led by Toshiba (TOSBF) is promoting the HD-DVD format. Each has the support of several big electronics makers and movie studios.
Blu-ray has more capacity, now at 50 GB, than HD-DVD at 30 GB, but proponents of HD-DVD say their format is cheaper to make because the production method is similar to current DVDs.
The Nikkei reported that, after reaching an agreement that a unified standard would be desirable, the two firms are now looking to develop a hybrid standard that takes advantage of each standard’s strengths.