Sanyo Announces Support for HD DVD in Format Battle Sep 1, 2004

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Japan's Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. announced that it would support HD DVD technology as a next-generation DVD format, adding to a list of other proponents of the technology, including Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp.

HD DVD competes with another DVD format called Blu-ray, supported by a consortium whose members include Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.

Winning Sanyo's support is a significant step forward for the HD DVD camp due to the company's technological expertise in optical pickups, which are used to read and write data on optical discs. Sanyo holds about 40 percent share in unit terms in the global optical pickup market.

Said to be Japan's third-largest consumer electronics maker, Sanyo plans to start offering DVD players based on the HD DVD format in the domestic market late next year, followed by a launch in the U.S., a company spokesman said.

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray technologies use blue laser light, which, with a shorter wavelength than the red light used in conventional DVD recorders, can read and store data at much higher densities needed for high-definition recordings. (Reuters)

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