January 10, 2008

Format war reworks 1980s video fight

The race to succeed the DVD between Blu-ray, backed by Sony, and HD-DVD, backed by Toshiba and Microsoft, mirrors the VHS-Betamax format war of the 1980s. When VHS triumphed over Betamax, the victory inspired a surge in consumer spending on home video, forming a lucrative fresh revenue stream for Hollywood. (Financial Times)