JAPANESE electronics giants have announced they will go ahead with their own formats for next-generation DVDs, after talks to reach a common standard failed.
The high-capacity DVDs, expected to hit the mass market late in 2006, are billed as offering cinematic-quality images and new possibilities for interactive entertainment. Sony鈥檚 Blu-ray disc is expected to have a greater storage capacity but will also be initially more expensive to make, as the format differs substantially from today鈥檚 DVDs.
Toshiba, maker of the HD DVD (High Density Digital Versatile Disc), said it was still in talks with Sony to find a common format, but it was going to push ahead with production of its own format. 鈥淸We are] planning to launch our first HD DVD products by the end of 2006.鈥�
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