Suspense prolongs even more in the tiring and frustrating battle for the next-gen DVD format: Paramount and DreamWorks have just announced their intention to support Toshiba’s HD DVD format exclusively.

Paramount and DreamWorks, both owned by media giant Viacom, have decided to favor the HD DVD in detriment of Sony’s Blu Ray because it’s apparently cheaper (lower manufacturing costs) and has a market-ready technology.

The exclusive HD DVD commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.

The first movies to be released in the HD DVD format are Blades of Glory (on August 28), and two of this summer’s blockbusters, Transformers and Shrek the Third. The three movies have grossed revenues of more than 1.5 billion dollars worldwide.

"The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD," stated Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, which is currently the leading studio in domestic box office. "Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount."

"We decided to release "Shrek the Third" and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience -- families," stated DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg. "We believe the combination of this year's low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home."

Paramount and DreamWorks have motivated their decision by saying that “HD DVD has emerged as the most affordable way for consumers to watch their movies in high definition. In addition to pristine quality, HD DVD also offers consumers the chance to personalize the movie-watching experience, to interact with their movies and even to connect with a community of other fans.”

Paramount’s complete catalogue of upcoming HD DVD titles will be published “day and date”, however it will not include movies directed by Steven Spielberg.

Previously, Viacom’s Paramount has been one of the Hollywood powerhouses that backed both next-gen formats. 

According to recent estimates, Sony’s Blu Ray enjoys not only a technological superiority (it packs twice the amount of data that can be stored on an HD DVD), but also larger install base, mainly due to PS3’s ubiquity.

Home Media Magazine reported that since the almost simultaneous launch of the two formats in spring 2006, an estimated 3.7 million high-definition discs have been sold, including 2.2 million in Blu-ray and 1.5 million in HD-DVD through the end of July.

The same source mentioned that sales of Blu-ray discs totaled 1.6 million units from January 1 through July 1, compared with 795,000 HD-DVD discs sold in the same interval.