According to The Hollywood Reporter, the announcement Tuesday that two of the heaviest hitters in the computer world -- Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. -- have joined the HD-DVD Promotion Group is being portrayed as a monstrous victory by backers of what many now deem the underdog in the quest for a high-definition successor to DVD. But supporters of the rival Blu-ray Disc say it is a mere blip on the radar, noting that the two computer giants long had been rumored to join the HD-DVD camp and that the momentum is still theirs.

"It's irrelevant", said Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Benjamin Feingold, one of the chief Hollywood backers of Blu-ray. "Neither of them make consumer electronics devices, and that's where the battle is going to be fought. And neither of these two companies has been an enormous proponent of packaged media, which is the bread and butter of Hollywood."