Paramount Home Entertainment is the latest company to back the Blu-ray Disc format as the next-generation DVD standard.
Paramount said Sunday it will join a growing list of media and technology companies endorsing Blu-ray that includes Sony Corp., Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.
Paramount will still market all its DVD movies in the competing HD DVD format so consumers can have a choice, company officials said.
Backers of HD DVD include Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Toshiba Corp., Universal Studios and others.
Paramount decided to support the Blu-ray format after an analysis of the cost and copy protection solutions available, according to a prepared statement. Paramount also said it was attracted by Blu-ray’s storage capacity, which is five times that of current DVDs.
“We have been intrigued by the broad support of Blu-ray, especially the key advantage of including Blu-ray in PlayStation 3,” said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures, Worldwide Home Entertainment.
Paramount will begin releasing its content in the Blu-ray format in North America, Japan and Europe when the hardware is available to support it.
Source: AP