A global consortium including Sony trying to establish Blu-ray blue laser technology as the standard for next-generation DVDs, said on Wednesday it would seek more partners to help battle a rival technology.

The 13 founders of the Blu-ray group, which also include Korea's Samsung and Philips , said they would establish the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) to set format standards and develop business opportunities.

Blu-ray competes with another blue laser-based DVD technology, called HD-DVD, which won the backing of the DVD Forum, an association of some 220 electronics and media companies. NEC and Toshiba promote the HD-DVD standard.

Blue lasers have a shorter wavelength than the current red lasers, allowing for a thinner light beam that can read and write smaller bits of information on a disk.

Sony last year launched the world's first DVD recorder using blue laser light, and Matsushita Electric Industrial , maker of Panasonic brand products, plans to offer its first blue laser-based DVD recorders in July.

The launches by the world's two biggest consumer electronics makers put the rival camp behind in bringing actual products to the market since NEC and Toshiba have no plan to launch HD DVD-based recorders or players this year.