HD DVD Format War To End In Draw?

Researchers have predicted that the ongoing High Definition (HD) DVD format war will end in a stalemate with neither format getting an upper hand in the global market. Studies have concluded that both formats could either achieve a ‘knock-out’ position of market dominance and both coexist until they come up with a compatible solution or neither format will be successful. Presently, HD DVD which is developed and supported by the DVD Forum is not compatible with the revolutionary Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, developed by Sony and Philips. With DVD prices falling rapidly in the market, there is increasing industry pressure for a next generation video format to accompany TV’s shift to high definition. However, the format war is expected to cause damage to the market for high-def DVDs overall. The Blu-ray Disc, developed by Philips and Sony, is supported by other consumer electronics manufacturers and IT companies such as Dell and Hewlett Packard (HP). On the other hand, HD DVD, developed by Toshiba and NEC is supported by three major Hollywood studios (Warner, Paramount and Universal), Intel and Microsoft. Sony has used the Blu-ray format in the PlayStation 3 games console, along with most major Hollywood studios which are releasing movies in the format. However, Universal and others have stuck to the HD DVD format. Read more here.