Blu-ray aims to oust DVDs within three years

Any difference between regional sales may be explained by the fact that European consumers cannot yet buy PS3s and there are only two Blu-ray players available, Simonis said.

"It's the launch of the hardware, pulling the software. That has yet to play out in Europe," said David Walstra, director of AV technology at Sony.

Sony reiterated its target to have sold six million PS3 game consoles by the end of the year.

Five out of eight major Hollywood studios support only Blu-ray. One studio, Universal, supports only HD DVD.

The HD DVD promotional group, in a separate presentation, said consumers should not only focus on the big blockbuster titles from Hollywood, but also those from regional film houses in Europe and Asia which would bring many titles to HD DVD because it was cheaper and simpler.

Toshiba and Microsoft, as the two main backers of HD DVD, support film studios and production houses to bring out their films on HD DVD, several studios said on Thursday.

Hollywood and electronics manufacturers hope new high-definition DVDs, with better picture quality and more capacity, will rejuvenate the slowing $24 billion home DVD market.

But the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray -- also supported by companies like Samsung, Philips, Matsushita, Apple, and Dell -- has curbed adoption.