Hard choices ahead in HD-DVD/Blu-ray battle

Hardware manufacturers have been placed on the horns of a dilemma by recent moves to create an interim licence for content protection standards on next-generation DVD formats which would enable playback devices to be manufactured now, Gartner has warned.

The Advanced Access Content System Licensing Authority (AACSLA) announced the availability of an interim licence for the copy protection system on 21 February that will be used to protect high-definition Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats.

But Gartner noted that many of the advanced features of the AACSLA specification, such as "managed copy" which would let consumers move content onto other devices, will not be enabled in this release.

The release of the incomplete interim specification will enable hardware manufacturers to begin making Blu-ray and HD-DVD players to meet what they perceive as pent-up demand for next-generation DVDs, Gartner stated.

Hardware manufacturers including Panasonic, Toshiba and Sony are expected to offer players as soon as March.

Executives at AACSLA said that movie studios are expected to receive a version of the interim licence "within days", and will soon have Blu-ray and HD-DVD-based DVDs rolling off the disc replication lines, according to Gartner.