While no other details were made public Friday, the announcement is significant for content producers who are choosing the next-generation format for DVDs.
The companies — all members of the Blu-ray Disc Association — are trying to win over future high-definition-format customers, and the battle for positioning is fierce.
NEC Corp. and Toshiba Corp. are promoting another type of next-generation optical disc format they jointly developed, called HD DVDs.
The Blu-ray format is 8 centimeters, or 3.2 inches, and uses a blue laser in its drive. The regular size of normal DVDs, which uses a red laser, is 12 centimeters.
Sony and Matsushita, which owns the Panasonic brand, have already commercialized the Blu-ray technology and sell recorders in Japan. The machines offer limited Blu-ray disc format support and won't play prerecorded discs.
Sony and Hitachi Ltd. are already marketing digital camcorders that use the current generation of DVDs as a recording medium. There are other digital video cameras on the market using mini-digital videocassette tapes.
