Chinese manufacturers back HD-DVD

Chinese firms cite expectation that Hollywood will back the standard

Two of China's largest manufacturers of DVD players have announced plans to make products compatible with the HD-DVD standard developed by Toshiba, according to a report in the Financial Times.

One of the firms, Amoi Electronics, confirmed that it will start making HD-DVD players next year, and that its choice was based on an expectation that Hollywood studios would back the standard.

Last Monday Intel and Microsoft joined the HD-DVD Promotions Group, a move widely seen a blow to the rival Blu-ray standard developed by Sony with key backing from Dell and HP.

But HP has now claimed that Intel and Microsoft are spreading misleading information about Blu-ray disc capacity, despite HP's close relationship with Microsoft.

Microsoft and Intel said in a statement that Blu-ray had only demonstrated a capacity of 25GB. HP maintains that so called Dual Layer BD-ROM drives enable 50GB capacity.

Meanwhile in separate reports, Paramount Pictures said that it will support both formats despite Toshiba suggesting that the Hollywood studio had chosen HD-DVD.