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TOKYO - Paramount studios is poised to drop its support of the HD DVD format after Warner Bros studio said it would back the competing Blu-ray format, the Financial Times reports.
The loss of support from Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, would likely deal the final blow to the HD DVD format backed by Toshiba and put an end to the format war, the newspaper said on its website.
Time Warner's Warner Bros studio said last week that it would use Sony's Blu-ray format exclusively for its high definition releases, marking a big setback for the HD DVD camp.
Blu-ray discs outsold HD DVD by nearly two-to-one in the United States last year, but HD DVD had secured important allies in August when Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG said they would go exclusively with HD DVD.
But Paramount is understood to have a clause in its contract that would allow it to change sides if Warner Bros backed Blu-ray, the Financial Times said.
- REUTERS
