Sony will release four titles on Universal Media Disc for PlayStation Portable

Sony Pictures will release "XXX," "Hellboy," "Resident Evil 2" and "Once Upon A Time in Mexico" titles on the Universal Media Disc (UMD) video format that plays on the new PlayStation Portable handheld entertainment system for the North American market. Six centimeter UMD, designed initially for use with the PSP, can carry over 1.8GB of content. The disc can hold up to two hours of DVD-quality music videos or four hours of standard quality. The Universal Media Disc itself comes in a small protective cartridge which is packaged in a special UMD box.

These four titles will be released on April 19 with additional titles to be released monthly thereafter. Movies on UMD will be produced in 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and encoded using advanced AVC compression, which provides the type of picture quality consumers have come to expect from SPHE DVDs. For added protection, a lightweight disc sleeve is also utilized, along with advanced encryption technology for content security.

"Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is proud to play a pioneering role in the introduction of this revolutionary new concept," said Benjamin S. Feingold, President of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "As the first fully integrated portable entertainment system, PSP will offer consumers an exciting new movie experience. We look forward to making movies on PSP a success with retailers throughout the world."