Blu-Ray, HP at Odds Over High-Def DVD Launch Plan

The Blu-ray Disc group, which aims to set the standard for next-generation DVDs, on Wednesday said it would not adopt a proposal from Hewlett-Packard Co. by the launch of the technology, leading the PC maker to say it may back a rival in the looming multibillion dollar war. That would leave HP, the No. 2 PC maker, splitting support between the two leading technologies.

Long a supporter of Sony Corp.-led Blu-ray, HP in October said if two technologies it considered important to PC users were not included in Blu-ray’s specifications, it would consider backing rival standard HD-DVD, championed by Toshiba Corp.

Billions of dollars are at stake as the electronics, computer, movie and television industries gear up for a technology change expected to send consumers back to the stores for equipment and discs that will play high-definition pictures and stores many times the data of current discs. But the competing technologies may end up in a war reminiscent of the home video-Betamax debate decades ago, which confused buyers and was an expensive loss for many companies.

Reuters