Blu-ray DVDs aim for Hollywood

TOKYO: A global consortium trying to establish Blu-ray blue laser technology as the standard for next-generation DVDs said it has set specifications for read-only discs, and compatible DVD players would hit the market as early as the second half of 2005.

The Blu-ray Disc Founders group, whose members include Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., is competing with another blue laser-based DVD technology dubbed HD DVD.

HD DVD is promoted by Japanese electronics conglomerates Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp.

Availability of a read-only format is crucial to attract Hollywood film studios as sales of packaged DVDs have become a strong earnings driver for them.

Support from major U.S. movie studios is expected to be indispensable for any new DVD technology to become mainstream.

"The ROM (read-only memory) format has already been set and we can disclose it shortly," a Matsushita official told reporters.

The official, who heads a joint technical committee of the 13 companies involved in developing Blu-ray, said DVD players and recorders compatible with the new read-only format would be ready by the second half of 2005, but did not specify which companies would be first to market them.

Blue light, with a shorter wavelength than the red laser used in conventional DVD recorders, can read and store data at the higher densities needed for high-definition recordings.

In the previous battle over home-use recording technology, Matsushita and Sony, the world's top two consumer electronics makers, played their video cassette format off against each other, with Matsushita's VHS triumphing over Sony's Betamax.