The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Strategic decision · 1993–1996
DVD won by merging two rival disc formats into one instead of fighting.
Two camps raced to define the video disc, and the computer industry forced them to agree on one spec, so DVD became the movie standard.
Toshiba · Sony · Philips
the move
In the early 1990s two consortia raced to define the next optical video disc. One, led by Sony and Philips, pushed the single-sided MMCD; the other, led by Toshiba and Time Warner, pushed the double-sided Super Density disc that held more data.
Both sides knew the VCR battle between VHS and Betamax had ended in an expensive format war, and retailers and studios wanted to avoid another. A group of computer makers, including IBM, Compaq, Microsoft and Apple, said it would not support either format until the camps worked toward a common standard.
That pressure produced a compromise: the two camps merged into one specification, with a single-layer disc carrying 4.7 gigabytes and about a 133-minute movie. The resulting DVD format, introduced in 1995, became the standard media for watching movies at home.
why it works
- The computer industry's threat to withhold support forced the two camps to negotiate rather than fight.
- Retailers and studios wanted one format that would not repeat the VHS-Betamax war.
- A unified spec set a single-layer 4.7-gigabyte disc big enough for a full-length movie.
- Merging gave consumers and hardware makers one target instead of two incompatible products.
what transfers
In a standards war, the winning move can be to abandon your own design and agree a common one, especially when the buyers can demand interoperability.
what came after
DVD replaced the videocassette as the mainstream home-video format and became the basis for recordable and then high-definition discs. The lesson that a forced compromise can settle a standards war kept being repeated, including in the later Blu-ray versus HD DVD battle.
references
- DVD (Digital Optical Disc) - Computer History Museum
- Two Sides in Videodisc Battle Begin Talks on Single Format
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