Leading research firm IDC expects contemporary DVD standard to remain dominant for another four years, whereas blue laser-based Blu-ray and HD DVD formats will not be that popular because of relatively high pricing.

“Similar to DVD and DVD burners, blue laser DVD will need a three- to five-year ramp to reach mass-market volumes,” said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director for removable storage at IDC.

According to a recent research by IDC, both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats are ramping up and gaining popularity, however, their time will come only in 2011 and later, as DVD will still retain its share on the market and in minds of many customers, who see no obvious benefits in high-definition video formats amid higher prices and ambiguous situation with two incompatible formats. Several days ago an exec from Matsushita said that he expected blue laser optical drives to capture 30% of the market in 2010.

IDC also says that marketing activities of both camps are accelerating, and more and more companies are joining one of the two or both format groups.

The research firm believes that HD DVD needs to aggressively push volumes to neutralize Blu-ray’s advantage in support from consumer electronics (CE) and content companies. Additionally, HDDVD needs to show a clear price advantage over Blu-ray products, be more consumer friendly in terms of moving/accessing content, and provide easy licensing to second tier manufacturers. On the other hand, the Blu-ray disc needs to maintain support from its lineup of CE and content companies, ensure that PlayStation 3 generates additional momentum, and stay within reach on product pricing, IDC claims.

Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba and NEC as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, which are among the world’s largest makers of electronics. Among Hollywood studios HD is supported by Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, whereas Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox endorse Blu-ray.