DVD discs are as popular as VHS videotapes at video shops. A Cabinet Office survey shows that about half the households in Japan now have DVD-capable machines. DVD discs are also used in game and car-navigation consoles. Thus DVDs can truly be called a success story that has taken root in our daily life. Yet a war of sorts between the two camps of electronics companies that have developed the next-generation DVD threatens to introduce two different formats later this year -- two types of mutually incompatible DVD discs and machines that would cause inconvenience to consumers.
The conflict between the two camps reminds one of the nightmare home-video format turf war of the 1980s between Betamax and VHS. There was also a war between Laserdisc and VHD. In the latter case, both formats went down together.
Although, at present, the two camps battling over the next-generation DVD format appear likely to go their own way, it is hoped that each side will continue efforts to develop a common standard by taking a broader view, with the consumer's interest in mind, and nurturing the new market in a healthy way, rather than stick to a partisan approach.