LAS VEGAS - PARAMOUNT MAKES LAST-DITCH HD DVD STAND

Paramount sent out mixed signals at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Monday about whether it will abandon the HD DVD format. Following word that Warner Bros. now intends to release high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format and a report in the London Financial Times that Paramount would make a switch to Blu-ray, the Viacom-owned studio issued a statement saying, "We are still supporting HD DVD." A short time later, however, it said that, unlike its competitors, it would not be making any announcements of future HD DVD releases at the show. In its report about Paramount's reported plans, the Financial Times observed, "Paramount joining the Blu-ray camp would leave HD DVD likely to suffer the same fate as Sony's now obsolete Betamax video technology, which lost out to VHS in a similar format war in the 1980s."

08/01/2008