The format war between the Blue-ray and HD-DVD formats for the next-generation DVD market is almost over, with the chances of the Blue-ray camp skyrocketing as more and more companies bet on the system.
The new DVD format will allow consumers to store and replay high-definition video, and the market is expected to exceed US $ 6 bln when the technology becomes more widely available by 2010.
Samsung Electronics announced what it says is the first release of a Blu-ray optical disc player in the U.S. market at the end of the month. The Blue-ray format can store a two-hour high definition video on a single disc by using short-wave blue lasers. Usually, storing one hour of high-definition video requires storage capability of 10 GB.
Samsung Electronics unveils its Blue-ray optical disc player for release in the U.S. market in late June. It will cost around US $ 1,000.
Samsung Electronics executive Choi Ji-sung compared the release of the Blue-ray player to a Declaration of Independence in the optical disc drive field. Samsung and LG pay hefty royalties per unit to U.S. and Japanese companies which own conventional DVD source technology. But Samsung has developed the Blue-ray player source technology on its own. “We used to follow our Japanese or U.S. counterparts, but from now on, we will lead the ODD market,” Choi claimed. “We have patents which our overseas counterparts failed to earn, so they will have to pay royalties to get access to our technology.”
The Blue-ray vs. HD-DVD battle is of worldwide consequence because it involves stakeholders in the electronics, movie and game industries. Much as VHS dominated the video market after beating Sony’s Betamax system, the winner in the next-generation DVD format war is likely to lead the digital content market of the future. Until last year, it was hard to predict who would come out tops, with about half the leading firms supporting each camp.
The turnaround came early this year, when Time Warner crossed over from the HD-DVD to the Blue-ray camp, which brought the global market share of movie companies in the Blue-ray camp to 80%. Universal Studios remains the only big Hollywood firm to support HD-DVD, while Sony Pictures, Disney and 20th Century Fox have already declared in favor of Blue-ray.
“The decisive blow came when news came out that Sony’s next-generation game console to be released in the second half of this year will support Blue-ray,” says Bang Mun-su, an executive with Samsung Electronics.
