Intel, Microsoft back next-generation DVDs - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com

Whenever there is a format war in the marketplace, the only real losers are the consumer, who have to place bets like it's Vegas, wagering their wages and hoping they don't have to junk their purchase when the formats are sorted out.

It looked like Sony and their BluRay disc format was going to run away with the race here for a while, but Intel and Microsoft have both thrown their weight behind HD-DVD, the format developed by Toshiba. Both formats are backwards compatible with DVD, but neither are compatible with each other.

Yet.

Anyway, it's pretty much an even split between the formats, and while BluRay might be technologically advanced, DVD pressing plants can be easily retrofit to the less expensive HD-DVD format. Looks like Betamax and VHS all over again. The only real advantage at this point is that Sony is launching the PS3 Spring 2006 with BluRay support, and that could be a shift point, similar to the PS2 launch which catapulted DVD sales.