"Experts predict long battle for supremacy between Blu-ray and HD DVD

The recent decision by 20th Century Fox to use Sony's Blu-ray next-generation DVD format, rather than Toshiba's rival HD DVD, is likely to spark a lengthy format war, industry experts have warned.

But the resulting discord could revive opportunities for on-demand TV, according to Gartner.

Laura Behrens, a principal research analyst at Gartner, explained that the motion picture industry hoped to introduce the next-generation DVD on a single format late in 2005.

"But the studios are now evenly divided between Blu-ray and HD DVD, guaranteeing a long market battle," she warned.

"The costs will be immense, in everything from realigned strategic relationships to manufacturing costs to consumer packaging and marketing.

"Eventually one format will win, or companies will develop affordable technology to use both, but Fox's decision will delay that moment until at least 2007."

Blu-ray technology, backed by companies including Sony, Apple, Dell, HP, Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung, together studios including Disney, MGM and now Fox, aims to put 50GB of data on a two-layer disc, enough for more than four hours of HD content." [more]