High-Def DVD Format Wars Continue

Warring Sides Hunker Down For A Long Fight

(CBS) 
Still, there were other signs of compromise at CES 2007.

LG Electronics, a member of the Blu-ray camp, announced a new player that will accommodate both formats. The model BH100, dubbed "Super Multi Blue," will sell for $1,199 when it becomes available next month.

But some observers say announcements like those from LG and Warner Bros., aren't necessarily helpful.

"Consumers are aware there are two formats and they think 'VHS versus Betamax," said Phillip Swann, president of the technology-oriented Web site TVpredictions.com.

The competing videocassette technologies squared off in the 1980s with consumers eventually picking VHS as the winner.

"Consequently one of the formats has to go away, either via the marketplace or a negotiated truce," he says.

Swann also believes the price of players has to come down to $299 or below before consumers embrace one format. Toshiba makes an HD DVD model for $499, while most Blu-ray players sell in the $1,000 range.

One huge incentive for studios to resolve their differences may be a slowdown in the growth of the overall DVD market. Sales for 2006 are expected to be flat, despite huge numbers for some titles such as Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Expect electronics companies to follow LG's lead and introduce dual-format players this year, says James McQuivey, a former Forrester Research analyst who is now a Boston University professor specializing in technology and communications.

"It's a logjam breaker," he said. "It could influence the studios to release their films in both formats. "If that happens, it will allow some momentum to be generated. Right now, there isn't any."