High Def Brings High Sales Hopes; HD-DVD Players Due This Year; The initial next-generation devices will be pricey, but industry eyes big potential.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: BRIAN DEAGON

Hollywood studios, electronics retailers and consumer electronics makers have a potential gold mine waiting for them when a new generation of DVD players starts to arrive late this year.

Total U.S. sales of standard DVD players have approached $15 billion, says the Consumer Electronics Association. Many predict even higher sales of the new high-definition DVD players. And Hollywood is looking at a market that should surpass $10 billion a year in high-def DVD movie sales.

DVD players, introduced in 1997, are the fastest-growing consumer electronics product ever. The CEA says more than three of every four U.S. homes already own a DVD player. A shift to new high-def DVD players should go along with the move to high-definition TV and …