For nearly five years, consumer electronic heavyweights Sony and Toshiba have fought a back-and-forth battle over which next-generation DVD format would control the $24-billion home movie business. Although Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD DVD have essentially the same capabilities — lots of storage space, the potential for interactive elements and great-looking video — the battle has essentially split the market. As a consequence, consumers have been reluctant to gamble on one format or another.
However, the fight may be coming to an end .
Analysts have long said the deciding factor in the war won't be manufacturers — or even consumers — but Hollywood. Last week just as the annual International Consumer Electronics Show was about to begin, Warner Bros. Entertainment seemed to prove the theory by announcing an exclusive deal with Blu-ray, tipping the balance. As the news sank in, experts barely stopped short of declaring Sony the winner.
So what does all of this mean to you?
Matt Hartley, the Globe's technology reporter, who spent the past few days navigating the cavernous exhibit halls of CES, was online earlier Thursday. Scroll below to read the discussion.
If you're still confused about the format war, or need some advice making a decision on which video format might suit your needs, then send Matt a question. He'll also happily chat about CES, meeting the Playboy Playmates at the Taser exhibit , watching the biggest TV in the world and having a dinner of Flaming Ribs of Targ and Romulan Ale at Quark's Bar and Restaurant .
Matt Hartley joined the Globe in May, 2007 as an intern and has been covering technology full time since August. He's a graduate of Queens University.
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Michael Snider, Technology Editor: Hi Matt, thanks for joining us today.
So you've spent the past five days or so bumming around sunny Las Vegas where one of the big stories of CES was Blu-ray's apparent coup over HD DVD thanks to Warner finally choosing sides. Can you give us a sense of what the atmosphere was like around the respective booths? I got the sense that the HD DVD group was just trying to put on a good face until the show ended, especially after they cancelled their planned showcase event.
Matt Hartley: Hi Mike, thanks for having me here. That was definitely the impression I got from walking between the two booths at CES. Toshiba's people were certainly defiant, and the few people I talked to spoke of the great library of movies they have available in the HD DVD format. Near the centre of their booth they had a tower of HD DVDs on display to show off some of the titles available in the format, but when you got up close you could see that many of them were movies that were more than 10 years old, whereas Sony's booth had a much wider selection of newer titles because of the greater number of studios they have signed up. The two booths were literally 50 paces apart - I counted - and the sounds of the Sony booth wafted over to where Toshiba's people were milling about and it seemed like the blue lights from Sony's displays were creeping across the floor toward their competitor's set up. There was certainly something poetic about it.
But beyond the Sony and Toshiba booths, the real story of the show was how many other companies were showing off their Blu-Ray players and how the new devices played an integral role in new home theatre options. HD DVD was just much harder to find on the floor.
