SONY, PHILIPS, HP PUSH DVD FORMAT.Byline: Todd Zaun / Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Sony Corp. and two other high-tech companies plan to leave an international consortium to make their own version of digital versatile discs that can record, Sony said Wednesday. Philips Electronics NV Philips Electronics NV in full Royal Philips Electronics NV Dutch Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV Major Dutch manufacturer of consumer electronics, household appliances, lightbulbs, and imaging equipment. of the Netherlands and Hewlett-Packard Co. of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. joined Sony in applying for licenses for the new format, Sony said through a spokesman. The move dealt another blow to the 10-company consortium that has struggled to agree on common standards for DVDs. It also raises the possibility of a battle similar to the one between the Beta and VHS (Video Home System) A half-inch, analog videocassette recorder (VCR) format introduced by JVC in 1976 to compete with Sony's Betamax, introduced a year earlier. videocassette recorder videocassette recorder (VCR), device that can record television programs or the images from a video camera on magnetic tape (see tape recorder); it can also play prerecorded tapes. formats - a fight Sony ultimately lost. Identical in appearance to music CDs, DVDs can store far more information. Current DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. units, whether hooked to a TV to view movies or to a computer for games, are for playback only. DVD machines that can also record are expected later this year. Sony, a member of the consortium, will continue to make playback-only DVDs under the common standard but will break with the group when the companies begin making recordable discs. ``Sony simply followed its policy of developing new technology, and the optical discs are no exception,'' a company spokesman said. The consortium, known as the DVD Forum, includes Sony's biggest rivals, such as Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Sony's new disc is the same size as the one developed by the group but has 15 percent more storage capacity. The two formats aren't compatible because recording methods differ. Sony says its format will make it easier to play discs designed for playback-only machines on the machines that are able to record. Hiroshi Takada, an analyst at BZW BZW Beziehungsweise (German: Respectively) BZW BZFlag World (file format/extension) BZW Blizzard Warning BZW Barclays der Zoete Wedd Securities (Japan) Ltd., applauded Sony's move. ``It was strange for manufacturers to be bound hand and foot by only one standard,'' he said. Competition ``should be like that in floppy disks, which had many standards. Consumers have ultimately chosen the best.'' From the consortium's beginning, the members have squabbled over technical standards, patent ownership and how to divide royalties. |
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