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Blu-ray and HD DVD backers have been unable to agree on a single blue laser DVD standard for three years.

Given a choice between one of two next-generation DVD players, many consumers may choose to sit on the sidelines instead. The first opportunity to see how the buying public might handle the squabbles between Sony and Toshiba and their respective backers won't happen until 2006.

With content producers like Disney and Warner divided into different camps, Hollywood has not been able to forcefully back one standard or the other. Now, a report from Financial Times Deutschland cites Samsung as saying they'll fix the problem for Toshiba and Sony if they don't fix it themselves.

"We would welcome a unified standard but if this doesn't come, which looks likely, we'll bring a unified solution to market," Choi Gee-sung, Samsung's head of consumer electronics, told FT. "It won't be simple but you'll see our solution in the coming year. Consumers will be too confused otherwise."

Video fans should hope this spurs the two camps into talking again. A one player/two format model would give the market for blue laser DVDs to Samsung and any other firm capable of producing a dual-read player. Movie buyers would be compelled to avoid the situation Betamax VCR purchasers faced after VHS became a videotape standard, and studios quit producing Betamax content.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.