"Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format,'' Brenda Ciccone, a spokeswoman for Paramount, told Bloomberg News.

Updated: The Los Angeles Times reports this morning (January 9) that Paramount could make a decision on HD DVD in the next month.

Paramount announced last August that it would endorse HD DVD exclusively in the high-def DVD format war. The studio's agreement with the HD DVD group reportedly was set for 18 months.

However, the Financial Times reports that the agreement has a clause that would allow Paramount to drop its support of HD DVD if Warner Bros. backed Blu-ray.

Warner last Friday dropped its neutral stance in the war and announced it was supporting Blu-ray exclusively.

The Financial Times reported that Paramount is ready to use the out clause to drop its HD DVD support.

Bloomberg News reports that Sony, the leading backer of Blu-ray, refused to comment on the Financial Times article.

Toshiba, HD DVD's top supporter, said the report is "speculative."

Warner Bros. issued a similar denial that it would not endorse Blu-ray shortly before it announced that it would support the high-def format.

Comment on this article!