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Disc format war brewing
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August 14, 1997: 7:47 a.m. ET
Four companies break ranks with the generally agreed format standard
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A major chasm is developing in the recording industry over the new storage format to replace the compact disc, CD-ROM and video cassette.
Months after 10 industry giants pledged to support one version of the so-called DVD-RAM, three of the companies confirmed in press reports that they were backing their own variation.
The companies, Sony, Phillips Electronics NV and Hewlett-Packard, had initially agreed to develop one standard to avoid the type of industry battle reminiscent of the VHS-Betamax video tape format war of the 1980s.
Meanwhile, Japanese computer maker NEC Corp. told Reuters it is developing its own standard. NEC said its multimedia video file (MMVF) format would have more capacity that the other two versions.
DVD-RAM, or digital video disk random-access memories, will have much more memory available than existing CDs, CD-ROMs and video casettes. Users can also re-record on the new format. 
--From staff and wire reports.
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Sony
NEC Corp.
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