CHIBA -- An annual technology exhibition that kicked off here Tuesday shows signs of becoming a battleground of sorts for the two next-generation DVD formats threatening to leave consumers with incompatible machines.

At the five-day CEATEC Japan 2005 event being held at the Makuhari Messe convention center, the two sides -- the Toshiba Corp.-led consortium pushing high-definition DVD and the Sony-Matsushita-led group promoting the Blu-ray disc -- have set up large booths to show off their technologies.

With prospects of a compromise on a unified format looking bleak, both teams have been upping the ante in their quest to become the de facto standard.

Consumer electronics makers from each camp are displaying DVD recorders and personal computers featuring the new formats and showing movies played on the devices in minitheaters.

But DVDs aren't the only item on show -- other booths indicate they are also trying to woo digital buffs in the fiercely competitive flat-screen television market.

Sony Corp., Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Sharp Corp. and other electronics makers brought in huge arrays of flat-screen TVs to impress visitors.

Matsushita is using the occasion to promote the advantages of plasma display panel TVs over liquid crystal display TVs, while Sharp is introducing new LCD technologies, including high-contrast panels.

Toshiba and Canon Inc. jointly set up a booth for SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) TVs -- a flat-screen TV they jointly developed and plan to market early next year.

In addition to consumer electronics, mobile phone carriers are using the exhibition to show off their latest handsets, while electronic components makers are presenting state-of-the-art technologies.

Blu-ray drives for PCs

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Tuesday it will begin shipping Blu-ray DVD drives to computer manufacturers by March.

The announcement came after Toshiba Corp. released a plan to sell PCs with HD DVD drives early next year.

The two camps are forging ahead with incompatible formats for next-generation DVDs after failing to unify their formats. The format war is reminiscent of the infamous videocassette format battle between VHS and Sony's Betamax.

Matsushita displayed its Blu-ray DVD drive at a combined CEATEC Japan 2005 exhibition of advanced technologies that opened Tuesday in Chiba.

Matsushita has already started negotiations with PC manufactures, including Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., on sales of the Blu-ray DVD drive and is planning to introduce its own PCs compatible with the format.

Matsushita demonstrated a new technology to halve DVD production costs in a bid to emphasize what it claims is Blu-ray's superiority.