DELIVERING The Technology of the Future
Will the "next big thing" in tech come from Asia?
In this article
While keeping pace with rising consumer demand at home and competitive challenges abroad, many Asian companies are in the forefront of research and development on the technologies of the future—in some cases, the very near future.
DUELING OVER HIGH-DEFINITION DVD
With the rapid spread of high-definition television worldwide, and DVD players having eclipsed the VCR, the next development in home entertainment is the marriage of the two technologies: high-definition digital video discs, players and recorders. In what amounts to a digital remake of “Beta vs. VHS” from the early VCR years, two competing standards—both developed by Japanese companies—are headed for a showdown among consumers when the first players and titles come to market this year.
The failure to agree on a single standard has slowed the arrival of high-def DVD. The two formats, known as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, are reportedly indistinguishable to the average viewer in terms of quality (although Blu-Ray, experts say, is more complex and expensive to produce). The problem with dueling formats is that it makes equipment manufacturers hesitant to invest in production—and consumers hesitant to pay the high launch prices—until one standard emerges a clear winner. The VCR experience shows that consumers prefer a single standard, an issue of concern for content developers
Regardless of which standard wins, however, the arrival of high-definition DVD will likely be a boost for electronics manufacturers in Japan and South Korea—and their plants in Taiwan and China—as consumers replace their DVD players and complete the transition to HDTV. Of the top five shippers of liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions worldwide in 2005, four were Asian companies.