Format War - 2000s

2000s

Recordable DVD formats: DVD+R versus DVD-R and DVD-RAM. DVD-RAM has largely relegated to a niche market, but both of the other recordable DVD formats remain available. Since practically all PC based DVD drives and most new DVD recorders support both formats (designated as DVD±R recorders), the 'war' is effectively moot.

Digital audio data compression formats: MP3 versus Ogg Vorbis versus MPEG4 Advanced Audio Coding versus HE-AAC/AACplus versus Windows Media Audio codecs versus Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC). Each format has found its own niche — MPEG1 audio layer 3, abbreviated MP3, was developed for audio encoding of the DVD and has remained a de facto standard for audio encoding. A technically better compression technique, MPEG4 (more commonly known as AAC) was subsequently developed and found favor with most commercial music distributors. The addition of Spectral Band Replication (AACplus or HE-AAC) allows the format to recreate high-frequency components/harmonics missing from other compressed music. Vorbis is most commonly used by game developers who have need for a high-quality audio, do not want to pay the licensing fees attached to other codecs, and did not need existing compatibility and name-recognition of MP3. Flac, a lossless format, emerged later and has become accepted by audiophiles. Consumer outcry against software incompatibility has prompted portable music player manufacturers such as Apple and Creative to support multiple formats.

High-definition optical disc formats: Blu-ray Disc versus HD DVD. Several disc formats that were intended to improve on the performance of the DVD were developed, including Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD DVD, as well as HVD, FVD and VMD. The first HD-DVD player was released in March 2006, followed quickly by a Blu-ray player in June 2006. In addition to the home video standalone players for each format, Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console offers a Blu-ray Disc player and its games use that format as well. The format war went largely in Blu-ray's favor after the largest movie studio supporting HD DVD, Warner Brothers, decided to abandon releasing films on HD-DVD in January 2008. Shortly thereafter, several major North American rental services and retailers such as Netflix, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc. and disc manufacturers such as CMC Magnetics, Ritek, Anwell, and others, announced the exclusive support for Blu-ray products, ending the format war.

Ultra-wideband networking technology — in early 2006, an IEEE standards working group disbanded because two factions could not agree on a single standard for a successor to Wi-Fi. (WiMedia Alliance, IEEE 802.15, WirelessHD)

Satellite radio: In 2001, XM Satellite Radio launched with the first pay satellite radio company in the U.S. In 2002, Sirius Satellite Radio followed suit. The two companies operated through different receivers, each required consumers to purchase a subscription package, and they offered different, exclusive programming. For example, Sirius had an exclusive contract for all NFL Football broadcasts on satellite radio, while XM Radio owned the exclusive satellite radio rights to broadcast live Major League Baseball games. While most of the hardware from the antenna to the receiver was common and could be successfully interchanged, both systems at the receiver used different encoding and conditional access methods, precluding the ability to switch services between the two carriers. In 2008, the companies merged to form Sirius XM Radio, using the same systems prior to the merger.

Automotive interfaces for charging mobile devices;- cigar lighter receptacle and USB respectively had 12 volt and 5 volt systems. The 5 volt system derived from data buses for PCs whereas the 12 volt system derived from the automobile's native electrical system. The popularity of car chargers for cell phones is what later lead to this movement, and later on newer models of automobiles were equipped with both (sometimes USB right on the car radio faceplate).