DVD format war heats up

Three Hollywood studios have announced their support for the high definition DVD (HD DVD) standard, raising the likelihood of a tough standards war with Sony's rival Blu-ray technology.

Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers have all thrown their weight behind HD DVD, which was developed by Toshiba and NEC.

Dell, Philips, Sony and Twentieth Century Fox have all sighed up for Blu-ray, and future Playstations will support the format.

"Blu-ray does offer an edge over HD DVD since it is a superior convergence format and has greater influence and backing in key industries such as Hollywood and personal computers," said analyst firm Frost and Sullivan in a report last month.

"HD DVD is not going down without a fight, though, especially since it is more compatible with current DVD players.

"When the dust settles, the best storage technology need not be the technologically superior one, as the choice is largely dependent on the controlling interests behind the technology, rather than its users and specifications."

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray are designed to provide the increased storage needed for high definition TV viewing. HD DVD holds about a third less data than Blu-ray, but the hardware is expected to be significantly cheaper.

The first Blu-ray players are due out next year. HD DVD players are not expected before 2006.