The American appearance of HD DVD is slipping
The biggest supporter of the HD DVD standard, Toshiba, has announced that its next-generation desktop players will not be available on U.S. store shelves until February or March 2006.
The reason for the shift in release is said not to be to be found in the delay in development, but simply to try to take better account of the needs of the market: to wait until at least the first films become widely available for purchase. Nonetheless, Japan, which is responding much faster to technological innovation, will be able to enjoy the benefits of high-definition discs as early as the end of this year, while competing Sony Blu-ray technology will not be introduced until 2006.
Toshiba has decided to postpone the U.S. show after lengthy considerations, as there would certainly have been significant demand for them during the Christmas season, but since they will only start producing in large batches in December, it makes more sense to skip the first Christmas.
The big disadvantage of HD DVDs is that they are a relatively small improvement over traditional DVDs, as the single-layer version can store 15 and the dual-layer version 30 GB. In contrast, Sony's Blu-ray solution, which can accommodate 27 GB per layer, is equipped with highly advanced copy protection technologies, but is much more expensive to manufacture, which can certainly be a significant obstacle in the first and most important years.
In addition to HD DVD, it is currently primarily Toshiba and NEC, and the DVD Forum is also working to adopt the standard, which would support some 230 companies involved in consumer electronics and similar activities. In contrast, Blu-ray is being driven by Sony and Panasonic, and it could be crucial to the success of the PlayStation 3 game console that it will instantly cost millions of households a Blu-ray player.
As for the Hollyod film studios, the situation is also divided there: currently Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures are next to HD DVD, while Sony Pictures, Walt Disney and Twentieth Century Fox prefers Blu-ray.
