Toshiba Announces New HD DVD ROM Discs

LOS ANGELES - May 10, 2005 - Paramount Home Entertainment, one of several major Hollywood studios actively involved in the cultivation of HD DVD, today welcomed the announcement by Toshiba Corporation of two new types of new HD DVD ROM (read-only) discs. The introductions include a 45GB, high-capacity ROM disc, and a 38.5GB DVD/HD DVD hybrid disc. These new discs will be presented at MediaTech Expo 2005 HD DVD Workshop, a technology forum for media replicators held in Las Vegas on May 11th.

HD DVD, the next-generation DVD, currently has already established two types of ROM disc: a 15GB version (single-layer, single sided) and a 30GB disc (double-layer, single-sided.) Both of these disc formats have been approved and standardized at the DVD Forum. In addition to these, Toshiba has just announced a triple-layered, 45GB disc, and a double-sided, double-layer hybrid ROM disc that can store 30GB of high-definition content on one side 8.5GB of standard-definition content on the other.

"Paramount welcomes the arrival of these new types of discs that reinforce the next-generation HD DVD solution by offering a potent combination of proven cost efficiency, superior performance and large storage capacity," said Thomas Lesinski, President Paramount Pictures, Worldwide Home Entertainment. "These new developments significantly add to the potential offered by HD DVD, including the freedom to combine a wide range of attractive content on a single disc as well as the addition of more features and functions."

Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the production, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, and music.