Bandai Visual joins Blu-ray camp in standards battle with HDD backers22 December 2004
Bandai Visual Co Ltd, a major Japanese developer of animation content, has joined the body created to ensure that Blu-ray disc technology prevails over the rival HDD technology as the global standard for next-generation data storage and playback devices.
The Blu-ray Disc Association said Bandai Visual has joined the organization, which now has almost 100 corporate members, including many of the world's largest consumer electronics manufacturers, PC makers and content developers.
'Bandai Visual's decision is recognition that high-quality content needs high-quality (display) technology,' Sony Corp senior vice-president Kiyoshi Nishitani said in statement issued by the association.
Sony is one of the association's 15 founding members. The others include Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL - news) , Hewlett Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ - news) , Hitachi Ltd, LG Electronics Inc, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Pioneer Corp, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Sharp Corp, TDK Corp, Thomson (Paris: FR0000184533 - news) , Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney Co.
Last month, four major American movie studios -- Warner Bros, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema -- endorsed the competing HD DVD format developed by Toshiba Corp and NEC Corp.
The two standards are not compatible and will require consumers to choose between one system or another when buying the next generation of DVD players, which is reminiscent of the 1980s battle between the VHS and Betamax video formats.
robin.elsham@xfn.com
Source: AFP via Yahoo
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