Next-Gen DVDs: Advantage, Sony
 

**Source:* BusinessWeek (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...k+exclusives)*
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It's a fight with more plot twists and intrigue than a Hollywood thriller. For two years now, rival camps have been battling over which new DVD format will prevail: Blu-ray, which is backed by Sony (SNE (http://investing.businessweek.com/re...sp?symbol=SNE)) and a consortium of 170 other companies, or HD DVD, which is being championed by Toshiba (TOSBF (http://investing.businessweek.com/re...symbol=TOSBF)), Microsoft (MSFT (http://investing.businessweek.com/re...?symbol=MSFT)), and others. Both technologies promise crisper video that looks better on the new generation of flat-panel, high-definition TVs. And the winner stands to control a lucrative new market worth billions. Each side has been competing to win the backing of the major movie studios. Only Warner Bros. (TWX (http://investing.businessweek.com/re...p?symbol=TWX)), which currently uses both formats, is still playing hard to get.

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