Hollywood took a major step toward a new home video format Monday as Time Warner announced it would introduce four movies on digital video discs in Japan.

The move, believed to be the first DVD release by a major U.S. company, is timed for the Christmas shopping season. It comes as a relief for Japan’s DVD equipment makers, whose sales have been slow because of a lack of software, especially popular movies.

The DVD format may one day replace CDs, VCR tapes and CD-ROMs. The disc looks similar to a compact disc but is double-sided, offering greater storage capacity, superior sound and pictures.

But Hollywood studios, worried about copyright and piracy protection, have been slow moving into DVD.