NEW YORK (Kyodo) Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it will release movies and other content on next-generation DVDs using Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray Disc technology.
The announcement represents a boost for Sony, which is battling to become the technical standard for next-generation DVDs.
Disney joins Hollywood studios, including Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., in adopting the Blu-ray Disc. MGM will be acquired by a Sony-led group in mid-2005.
Disney's decision gives Blu-ray Disc's developers -- Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and others -- nearly 50 percent of the U.S. DVD software market, slightly surpassing the market share held by developers of the rival technology, HD DVD.
HD DVD, developed by Toshiba Corp., NEC Corp. and other companies, has thus far won support from four U.S. film studios that together constitute 45 percent of the U.S DVD software market.
The four studios are Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Studios.
Disney, which holds about 17 percent of the market for U.S. DVD software, had been the only major movie studio yet to decide which technology to adopt.
Disney's home video division, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, will begin to release content in the Blu-ray Disc format "nonexclusively" when Blu-ray hardware is launched in North America and Japan, the firm said.
Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation optical disc format developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications.
Owing to its greater storage capacity, Blu-ray Disc can store up to five times the amount of content than is possible with conventional DVDs. It is particularly well-suited to high-definition feature films.
Blu-ray Disc also features advanced copy protection and backward compatibility with the current DVD format.