Maybe I’m just getting too cynical. But when I heard that Toshiba wants to maybe unite BD and HD DVD, the first thing that came to my mind was “posturing!”. Both sides have often said how they’re open to a merger. And then the details come out that by “merger” they mean “takeover”. Neither side wants to give up its core IP (intellectual property). Both sides want the other side to cave and go with their format.

So I’m cynical. But I also happen to think that I’m right.

Toshiba president, Atsutoshi Nishida, said this: “We have not given up on a unified format. We would like to seek ways for unifying the standards if opportunities arise.” Nothing new over what has been said before.

Personally, I don’t hold out any hope of a BD / HD DVD merger. I don’t think either side really wants to give up on their format. The only time we’ll see a single format is when one of the formats triumph and grinds the other one into dust.

Toshiba Wants Combo HD Player