To support European market, where the HD household penetrationis significantly lower than in the US and in Japan, Sony has decided to launch the BASE project: Blu-ray Authoring and Solution Europe.

A team based in France and entirely dedicated to this project will be in charge of providing technical support to the European studios and Blu-ray Disc authoring facilities. With Sony?s specialists technology and knowledge on Blu-ray Disc, the presence of the team will encourage European AV production companies and content providers to produce and release BD movie titles. The team will be operational around autumn and coordinate between operations in the Japanese, North-American and European markets.

Sylvain Antol, President of Sony France and Senior Vice President Engineering, Manufacturing and Service Europe commented: "With this BASE project, Sony shows once again the importance given by Sony Group to the European market, on the one hand, and to the Blu-ray Disc and High Definition, on the other hand".