A stagnant DVD market combined with the uncertain outcome of the next-generation format war were ingredients to make Barcelona's MEDIA-TECH Conference & Showcase a well-attended gathering.

The organisers' strategy to broaden the brief of the event beyond traditional technical seminars paid off as the main conference embraced related topics such as HDTV and market analyses, and opened the door to the International Disc Duplicating Association (IDDA) and the DVD Association.

Now that the high definition DVD standards have been launched, backers of the respective formats used this year's MEDIA-TECH to fire the first salvos.

Speaking on behalf of the Blu-ray Disc Association, Philips' Frank Simonis did not pull any punches. "More titles, more hardware, more Hollywood support and forging fast ahead of the competition thanks to the PlayStation 3." The Blu-ray camp did not help its case, though, by machine-gunning the opposition with overwhelming sponsoring firepower, complete with misleading data and dubious analysis, according to several attendees we talked to who knew better.

In contrast, the lone HD DVD sharpshooter, Toshiba's Olivier van Wynendaele, was perceived to have done a good job with a smoke-free status report delineating the HD DVD Promotion Group's marketing strategy without even referring to BD!

But, as is often the case in war zones, truth is usually the first casualty. The apparent sharp rise in BD disc sales overtaking HD DVD discs "by 3.5 to 1" gave confidence to the format backers that the "market has spoken."

What was not made clear in the presentation is that the PS3 – already 1 million units sold – was bundled with a free BD disc Talladega Nights, undoubtedly showing up in GfK and Nielsen VideoScan figures, though not purchased. Also a number of retailers offers two-for-one specials on BD discs. Furthermore, Amazon offers 50% off selected Blu-ray discs. Hardly normal market conditions.

For its part, promotion of HD DVD hardware revolved around redeemable vouchers for free HD discs which by nature cannot be accounted for by retailed disc output figures. "When all those factors are taken into consideration, it could well be that respective sales volumes of BD and HD DVD discs may not be far apart," a market observer told us.

"It is much too early to reach any conclusion as to the fate of either format," says Helen Davis Jayalath, Screen Digest' senior analyst, who injected a healthy dose of realism, pointing out that HD DVD still has the edge in Europe. The number of HD DVD titles released, announced and confirmed totals 280 versus BD 230 titles. Davis also cautions against exaggerating the impact of PS3 on sales of BD film titles. "PS3 is essentially a games console; gamers will not buy movie discs at the same rate [as at launch of the console] as soon as more PS3 games become available."

While the dominance of Hollywood studios gives an edge to BD in the US market, so far as the majority of them back the Blu-ray format, Europe is a different ballgame. Van Wynendaele reminded that in several large markets, domestic film production accounts for up to 45% (France) of box office revenues, and most of these non-Hollywood, domestic studios are already releasing their titles in HD DVD.

To date, 21 authoring facilities and replicators across Europe are already providing HD DVD services. Laurent Villaume, the straight-talking founder and CEO of French replicator QOL, explained why he and others have embraced HD DVD – while leaving the door open to BD.

"At this early stage in the game, it is critical for us to be able to amortise the heavy investment in HD DVD replication lines by using them to press DVDs as well, something we do for 80% of the time. A Blu-ray line can only be used for Blu-ray discs," says Villaume. "Moreover, Toshiba, unlike Sony, has no replication subsidiary against which we would compete. It has enabled Toshiba to build a closely-knit partnership with us and others in the chain in terms of support," adds Villaume.

New Medium Enterprises, the third contender in the next-generation HD market promoting its less expensive red laser-based multilayer disc format HD VMD, elbowed its way onto the limelight by announcing partnerships with a roster of blue chip companies – VDL ODMS, Axxicon, Netstal, DaTARIUS, Plasmon OMS and Dr Schenk.

"These partners have united with NME to drive the unique red laser-based technology and opportunity that VMD technology offers in the face of its blue laser-based competitors. Other industry partners such as Gima, Ilsemann and Tapematic also support VMD media production, packaging and printing," says Dr Eugene Levich, NME CTO.

Story filed 11.03.07