Rat Race For The Next Disc Format

The recent fall out between Sony and Toshiba highlights the issues facing the entertainment industry in regards to emerging formats. Presently, record companies are aggressively releasing new and catalog content on the DualDisc – a format which is basically a CD and low volume DVD glued together.

Although the DualDisc has been early to market and compatible with all existing players from car stereos to PCs, the weakness to this product is that it holds limited video content (60 mins approx). It will soon face competition from far more sophisticated formats such as the HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs.

Both formats use blue lasers that have shorter wave lengths that allow a much greater volume of content. The HD DVD has 30 gigabytes of space, enough to hold 12 hours of high definition video. Led by Toshiba, the format seems to be more supported by the entertainment sector. Blu-Ray, led by Sony, holds 20 more gigabytes of content but demanding manufacturing processes result in a higher cost per disc than the HD DVD. 

Very recently, Sony and Toshiba did hold talks to find a unified format but these talks broke down leaving both parties to evolve their respective technologies. The threat to Blu-Ray is that higher costs will encourage manufacturers to flock to the HD DVD format (which launches late this year).

However, Sony has one more card up its sleeve, and that’s the PS3, due to market early 2006. The expectation is that the next generation games console will use Blu-Ray discs which will maintain demand – and this debate.

Meanwhile, Sony already has a new format on the market: the Universal Media Disc (UMD) that is used by the PSP. It may have lower capacity but it is gaining acceptance with companies from Universal to Blockbuster. Shoppers can soon buy DVD/UMD combo packages for just a few more bucks. But the shelf life of the UMD could be limited as the PS3 doesn’t appear to be using this format.

As Toshiba and Sony duke it out, PSFK thinks the real debate lies in whether a disc, regardless of its format, can compete with digital downloads in the medium to long term. No doubt that the two giants will make superior products, but haven’t consumers already moved away from the physical?