A group of electronics manufacturers from Japan, the United States, South Korea and the Netherlands will ask firms from other industries to help them develop a next-generation DVD, officials said Wednesday.

The 13 companies, led by Tokyo-based Sony Corp., are working together on a new DVD format, called Blu-ray, which would offer better resolution to get the most out of high-definition TVs. It would also be able to store bulkier computer files.

They plan to rename their group Blu-ray Disc Association, from Blu-ray Founders, and to open it to more companies, the Blu-ray Founders said, without offering specifics about what kinds of companies.

Sales of high-definition TV sets are booming, but the image quality of current DVDs lags behind HDTV sets. The new discs are expected to look like current DVDs and store up to three times more data. They would be read by blue lasers, which can play finer images and sound than the red lasers DVD and CD players now use.

Red lasers components are cheaper than the blue-laser technology. Because the new Blu-ray DVD players are expected to be compatible with current CD and DVD technology, they will also have a red laser player.

The announcement ratchets up competition in the global race to make a better DVD.

Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. are promoting a rival high-definition DVD, which has been endorsed by a global industry group that created the DVD, called DVD Forum.

Along with Sony, other members of the Blu-ray Founders include South Korea's LG Electronics Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Sharp Corp., TDK Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Pioneer Corp. and U.S. companies Thomson Corp., Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.