Efforts at unifying high-def formats stall: but talks could be restarted.(high-definition)

Video Business, May, 2005 by Sweeting, Paul

Rumors of the death of the high-definition unification talks might have been premature. Despite the breakdown of planned talks in Tokyo early last week, by the end of the week, efforts were underway at various levels to try to salvage some sort of dialog between the backers of the HD DVD and the rival Blu-ray Disc formats.

The efforts are proceeding on parallel tracks. In Japan, representatives from Toshiba, Sony and Matsushita continue to hold on-again, off-again conversations, while in the U.S., the studios continue to look for ways to bridge the industry rift that has some companies backing Blu-ray and others backing HD DVD. Much of the attention in Hollywood is being focused on Disney, which broke with several other studios to support...

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