HCT
08-23-2005, 05:44 AM
TOKYO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Groups headed by Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp offering competing technologies for next-generation DVDs have given up efforts to develop a unified format, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday.
For three years, the two groups have pushed to have their respective technology standards adopted to gain dominance in the multibillion-dollar markets for DVD players, PC drives and optical discs.
Toshiba, along with NEC Corp and Sanyo Electric Co, has been promoting HD DVD, while Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the maker of Panasonic brand products, have been developing a technology known as Blu-ray.
The two groups have held negotiations on unifying their formats to persuade consumers to shift to advanced discs and to promote growth in the industry.
But negotiations fell through as neither side yielded, and time ran out to develop a format before the launch of new products from both groups, the paper said.
Officials at Toshiba and Sony were not immediately available for comment.
Sony's Blu-ray technology is also backed by Dell Inc. and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.
At the core of both formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than red lasers used in current DVD equipment, allowing discs to store data at higher densities needed for high-definition movies and television.
:source: Source: http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nT197333
For three years, the two groups have pushed to have their respective technology standards adopted to gain dominance in the multibillion-dollar markets for DVD players, PC drives and optical discs.
Toshiba, along with NEC Corp and Sanyo Electric Co, has been promoting HD DVD, while Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the maker of Panasonic brand products, have been developing a technology known as Blu-ray.
The two groups have held negotiations on unifying their formats to persuade consumers to shift to advanced discs and to promote growth in the industry.
But negotiations fell through as neither side yielded, and time ran out to develop a format before the launch of new products from both groups, the paper said.
Officials at Toshiba and Sony were not immediately available for comment.
Sony's Blu-ray technology is also backed by Dell Inc. and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.
At the core of both formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than red lasers used in current DVD equipment, allowing discs to store data at higher densities needed for high-definition movies and television.
:source: Source: http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nT197333