Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp.'s and Toshiba Corp.'s rival and incompatible formats for high-definition DVD players, introduced by 18 months ago, continue to divide buyers, the New York Times reported.

The companies have sold about a million stand-alone players and neither Sony's Blu-ray format nor Toshiba's HD-DVD has so far shown a clear advantage in technology, number of movies or price of equipment, the newspaper said.

Toshiba has sold 578,000 HD-DVD units and Sony 370,000 Blu-ray machines this year, the Times reported, citing Adams Media Research.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Kraus in New York at jkraus2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 31, 2007 05:14 EST