Toshiba Addresses Paramounts HD DVD Concerns

Toshiba Releases Official Comment on Reports on Paramount

Our understanding is that Paramount Home Entertainment also continues to support HD DVD, a position established in comments from Paramount officials in press reports. We see Paramount’s continued commitment to releasing HD DVD titles as proof that the studio still recognizes HD DVD’s advantages: accelerated time to market, greater proven capacity, lower expected price, and enhanced consumer features. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the studio in this important product area.

We understand that studios want to see precisely what will happen in the CE and IT industries, and that they will want to support all potential markets for their products.

However, once HD DVD comes to market at the end of 2005 in Japan, and early next year in the United States as planned, it will not take long to know which format really delivers the benefits of high definition to the consumer.

In terms of development, HD DVD is far in advance of Blu-ray. Volume production of discs will see decisive cost and productivity advantages in favor of HD DVD. On the strength of these facts, we are convinced that Hollywood studios and other content holders will eventually opt for commercialization in the HD DVD format.

The HD DVD format is the only next-generation DVD format defined by the DVD Forum, the international organization that determines DVD specifications. The Forum has approximately 240 member companies around the world, including major Hollywood studios and leaders in the CE and IT industries. The HD DVD format was arrived at only after extensive, open discussions and technical evaluations among the membership. Moreover, development of HD DVD is in the final phase, and we are proceeding with necessary preparations for commercialization.

HD DVD features compatibility with current DVD, and to this adds advanced characteristics, including efficient manufacturing of discs and hardware, cost efficiency, superior connectivity with PCs through iHD software. As HDTV and large-sized flat panel TVs continue their market penetration, HD DVD alone offers the ability to meet rapidly increasing consumer demand for high definition DVD content in a timely manner. Last but not least, HD DVD will adopt AACS, created by major IT and CE companies, and so realize Hollywood’s most pressing concern: robust content protection — a great benefit to content holders.