The announcement represents the latest volley in the ongoing war with Toshiba rival Sony for next-generation DVD supremacy.
At one point, rival Sony’s Blu-ray format seemed to have the upper hand from both a technological and marketing standpoint, thanks to larger storage capacity and the fact that Blu-ray discs are recordable, as well as backing from major hardware manufacturers.
But during the past month, Toshiba has virtually wiped out Sony’s advantages by introducing HD-DVDs that match Blu-ray’s storage capacity and are recordable, and by rallying support from content providers such as major film companies.
What’s more, the company said it has achieved these improvements without any impact on manufacturing costs.
Toshiba said the development of a recordable HD-DVD will “relieve concerns of consumers who are considering purchasing our new HD-DVD players due out later this year.”
Toshiba and its partners, including Hitachi and Mitsubishi, had been rumored at one point to be on the verge of agreeing to a compromise that would have integrated its HD-DVD with Sony’s Blu-ray product.
But Toshiba quickly quashed the rumor and restated its intention to forge ahead with plans to release an HD-DVD player to the consumer market in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Movie studios and electronics manufacturers alike are still hoping the two sides will reach a compromise resulting in a unified format.
The alternative — a DVD war similar to the VHS-Betamax battle of the early ‘80s — would force everyone involved to either take a risk in choosing a side or plow millions into developing products for each format.
However, the possibility for a peaceful resolution seems less likely as both companies gear up to hit the market with players for the rival technologies.
Jupiter Research Vice President Michael Gartenberg said of the impasse, "I'm sure everyone wants to work together as long as working together means, ‘You support my format.’ Both companies understand the importance of being able to control the standard."
