In a city built on wagering, the smart money is staying on the sidelines when it comes to the battle between two high-definition DVD formats. The first shots between Blu-ray, backed by a Sony-led consortium, and HD DVD, whose group is led by Toshiba Corp., were fired last year when the formats made their splashy debuts at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
Analysts and executives thought that by this year"s show, there would be a clear winner, especially after Sony in November released its Playstation 3 video game console, which comes standard with a Blu-ray disc drive. Instead, both sides have hunkered down for what could be a long fight and some are even conceding that both formats may be here to stay. ``In an optimal world you would have one format,"" Kevin Tsujihara, president of the Warner Bros. home entertainment group said this week. ``But there are many industries where multiple formats have existed and flourished.""