TOKYO - The war over the next-generation DVD standard is playing out full force at a sprawling electronics exhibition opening near Tokyo Tuesday with Japanese electronics companies on both sides expressing confidence for victory.
The CEATEC 2005 exhibition in Chiba, Japan, is opening as the battle escalated a notch after Paramount Pictures, which had previously supported the HD DVD backed by Toshiba Corp., became the first major movie studio to support both rival formats.
And Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which backs Blu-ray Disc, the other technology, was openly gloating.
"The format war is coming to a close," said Matsushita Executive Officer Kazuhiro Tsuga, adding that he was hopeful other Hollywood studios will follow suit. "That's our current scenario."
Until Paramount's decision, the six major studios had been evenly split between HD DVD and Blu-ray, also backed by Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).
Both formats deliver dazzling imagery in high-definition video and can store more data than DVDs today, allowing for interactive features such as playing an interview with director discussing a movie scene while you watch the footage.
At CEATEC, Matsushita, which makes Panasonic brand products, is demonstrating how it has been able to lower production costs for Blu-ray, a key past weakness of the format. HD DVDs are cheaper to produce because they are more similar to current DVDs.
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