Toshiba Corp. said on Monday it had won support for the HD DVD optical disc standard from Warner Bros. Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema, advancing its cause in the battle for the next-generation DVD.

Toshiba, with NEC Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., is promoting a next-generation DVD technology called HD DVD, while Sony Corp. and several other giants of the electronics, computer and movie industries are backing a competing standard dubbed Blu-ray.

Support from U.S. film studios is seen as vital in this format battle, just as it was when the VHS standard prevailed over Sony’s Betamax two decades ago.

“After extensive research and careful consideration … we have determined that HD DVD has the highest quality of performance and offers key advantages in the areas of durability and reliability,” Warner Bros. said in a statement.

They represent about 45 percent of Hollywood’s prepackaged DVD sales in the United States, Toshiba said.

Those studios are expected to release movie titles on the HD DVD format in time for the planned launch of HD DVD players in the last quarter of 2005.

Source: Reuters