TECHNOLOGY : Opening Bell Sounds in Fight to Set Video Disc Standard

Quiet maneuvering over industry standards for a digital successor to the videocassette recorder erupted into open battle Friday as Sony Corp. and Philips made public their long-awaited video disc standard, only to have Toshiba Corp. brusquely assert that its own upcoming technology is better.

The new technologies, expected to hit the market late next year, will offer high-quality home movies on digital discs similar to audio compact discs. Movie studios and electronics companies say discs have major advantages over VCR tapes, though some question whether consumers will want to invest in yet another new entertainment format.

The unfolding standards fight pits Sony and Philips against a Toshiba-led group that also includes Time Warner, Pioneer Electronic Corp. and Thomson of France. It is reminiscent of an earlier industry battle when VCRs were first developed, which pitted Sony’s Betamax technology against Matsushita Electric’s VHS format.

Matsushita won that contest even though many observers said Sony’s technology was superior. This time Toshiba claims to be proposing a higher-quality standard, but Sony says its idea makes more sense overall if production costs and compatibility with existing systems are also considered.

A nasty fight over standards could also delay takeoff for the digital video disc industry as a whole.

Toshiba spokesman Tetsuo Kadoya said Sony’s action appears to mark “the end of collaboration” in industry attempts to agree on a single standard.

The Sony proposal is for a high-density disc capable of holding 3.7 gigabytes of data, more than five times that of ordinary compact discs. Data would be held on only one side, but research is under way on “dual-layer” technology aimed at doubling that one-side capacity to about 7.4 gigabytes, Sony said.

This disc would be able to play 135 minutes of high-quality video, long enough for most full-length movies, plus audio and subtitling tracks.