Format war

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A format war is an economic dispute between the providers of different, not easily combinable technical standard solutions for a common problem. Many format wars end with the implementation of one of the competing offers. Format wars began in the early days of industrialization , for example when there was competition between direct current and alternating current- based systems for public power supply . Today, many format wars affect the consumer electronics and electronic media sectors .

The factors that ultimately lead to the enforcement of a particular format can be very different. The technically better format does not necessarily have to win, other factors such as a lower price or better marketing by an already dominant manufacturer can also be decisive. In the case of technical media in particular, the published content can also play a role - for example, the fact that most of the well-known musicians were exclusively under contract with record companies and were therefore not allowed to publish recordings on tapes for the Tefifon is said to have contributed to this medium could not prevail.

Overview of past and current format wars

1830s / 1840s

The Baden State Railways converted their lines to standard gauge in the 1850s and the GWR in the 1870s to 1890s.

1880s

Alternating current has become established with exceptions such as HVDC .

1910s

1930s

Although the Dvorak keyboard layout is optimized, it was not able to establish itself; it is only used by a few users and since the advent of PCs (flexible keyboard layout possible) it can be used again without great effort (in contrast to typewriters).

1940s

  • Record format war between 33⅓-UPM- / 30-cm-LPs and 45-UPM- / 17-cm- “Singles” around 1948/49.
Ended in favor of uniform standards.

1970s

Ended up in favor of VHS .
Ended in favor of modern surround sound systems

1980s

  • After the originally open source computer operating system Unix was commercialized by AT&T , this led to a series of independent further developments and spin-offs, which became known as the "Unix Wars" . None of the various systems could achieve a dominant position, and the resulting segmentation slowed the success of Unix considerably, which only became successful in the mass market in the 2000s. In 1983, the programmer Richard Stallman , annoyed about the proprietaryization of Unix by AT&T, began working on his own Unix operating system called GNU, and at the same time started the free software movement , from which Linux later emerged.

2000s

Adapter from SD to CF (I)
  • Format war between providers of different memory card types for digital cameras
Secure Digital has established itself in the consumer sector, and Compact Flash is also used in professional cameras . Defused by adapters for SD cards in CF slots.
Defused in favor of combination solutions.
Ended in favor of Blu-ray when Toshiba announced that it would no longer produce HD-DVD devices.

2010s

  • According to the definition of the HEVC / H.265 video format in 2013, a patent war over usage fees developed from 2015 . A counter-movement developed around the Alliance for Open Media , which developed an alternative based on the license-free VP9 , which was then released as AV1 in 2018. The patent war over HEVC was thus defused. The patent war against AV1 announced shortly afterwards had no effect until 2020, so that AV1 is beginning to gain acceptance.
  • The ITU-R recommendation BT.2020 in 2012 brought a definition of 10 bits per channel up to 8K image resolution for UHDTV . Dolby developed a Dolby Vision extension for Dolby Cinema 2014 with 12 bit color depth per channel. Since this requires a license, Samsung developed the free alternative HDR10 + for HDR video in 2017 . However, the competitor LG relies on Dolby Vision. With the spread of HDR in televisions from 2018 onwards, it has been shown that with Dolby Vision support, HDR10 + is also always offered.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ GNU Manifesto
  2. ↑ Boi Feddern: Memory card trends: Sony is committed to the SD format and Panasonic is pushing SDXC. In: heise photo. Heise Zeitschriften Verlag, January 8, 2010, accessed on July 26, 2012 (German).
  3. ↑ Camera accessories. Professional standard for single lens reflex cameras. In: PC WORLD. IDG Tech Media GmbH, p. 3 , accessed on July 26, 2012 (German).
  4. ↑ Toshiba announces the discontinuation of the HD DVD. In: t-online.de. Deutsche Telekom AG, February 19, 2008, accessed on July 26, 2012 (German).
  5. ↑ Jörg Breithut: Dolby Vision or HDR10 +: These technologies should make television more beautiful . The mirror. 3rd May 2019.