Shrek versus Spiderman in DVD wars

Even in the wildest Hollywood imagination Shrek is unlikely ever to square up to Spiderman. A potentially expensive battle between the two characters will, however, be coming to television screens across the country over the months ahead.

In one corner is Sony’s "Blu-ray", so-called because the Blu-ray DVD players use a blue laser instead of the red beam in standard players.

Blu-ray’s rival is "HD-DVD", pioneered by Toshiba and supported by the might of Microsoft and Intel.