Only_Technical_Excellence_Decides_Success_

Only technical excellence decides success' As far as Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD goes, it denotes we ‘have passed the point of no return now, with each passing day, it seems less likely that a compromise will be reached on a next format’ (Block, 2005). Toshiba forced to conclude by admitting failure and announcing that they would stop manufacturing HD DVD discs. What I am trying to expound is that not only excellent technologies ensure success, but also other important factors are involved. In the mid 1990s, high-definition (HD) television sets were becoming increasingly popular. However, consumers were unable to record or play back this HD content because it required a storage medium capable of holding the larger amount of data for HD video. The breakthrough came with Nakamura's invention of the blue laser diode in 1995, making it possible to develop formats to record and play HD visual content (Blu-Ray and HD DVD extract). Based on Nakamura’s discovery, Sony started to develop projects applying the new diodes. In February 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-Ray, and the DVD Forum, chaired by Toshiba. The two formats have very similar technologies, besides using a blue laser to read and write data, they use similar methods for encoding media onto discs. However the two competing formats had significant differences that made each incompatible with the other (including older DVD players) despite both formats delivering clear high-definition pictures and sound. However Blu-Ray exhibited superior quality to HD DVD in some technical respects. Compared with HD DVD, Blu-Ray discs have a larger storage capacity, up to 50GB; Blu-Ray discs are encoded with region codes, this means that they have a higher level of security; most importantly, when the Play Station 3 add-on HD DVD drive was launched, Blu-Ray gained a terrific advantage. Actually, it is impossible that the two formats are in existence at the same time. They are relying on content providers, that is, film, television production companies. In other words, they are tools for helping the content providers, if there is no support of providers, failure is sooner or later. The most important part is Hollywood and Japan film providers, who switched their loyalty to Blu-Ray. And later, the retail giant Walmart also announced that it would stop selling HD DVD, which gave Toshiba a bitter blow. Blu-Ray achieved success with the protection of intellectual property rights for manufacturers, larger storage capacity and the media format issued gained the favor of film operators. All in all, gaining favor of providers on the battlefield means you have sufficient ammunitions dealing with adversaries, especially for the issuance of media. Campaign’s success and failure do not only concern technical excellence or other technological factors, the key point is whether the products you provided attract the support of providers or not. EVD (Enhanced Versatile Disc) is experiencing the same situation, even though the price is so low, if no supporters take it, it will not succeed in the end. Bibliography Blu-Ray and HD DVD extract. Ryan, B 2005. Blu-ray vs HD DVD: State of the division. Engadget. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://www.engadget.com.