CYBERSPACE – Hewlett-Packard has announced that it will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, the two technologies competing to be the standard for next generation DVD technology.HP had previously thrown its lot in with Sony’s Blu-ray technology, but after Blu-ray backers rejected a proposal from HP to include certain technical features in disc specifications, HP has decided to expand its next-gen horizons.

“Because HP wants to deliver the most user-friendly and cost-effective solution to our customers, we have decided to support both formats,” said general manager of HP’s personal storage division Maureen Weber, in a statement. “By joining the HD DVD Promotions Group and continuing work with the Blu-ray Disc Association, HP will be in a better position to assess true development costs and, ultimately, provide the best and most affordable solution for consumers.”

In its statement, HP said that the Blu-ray Disc Association did not agree to support a technology called “iHD,” developed by Microsoft and Disney, which will provide interactive features on the discs themselves. Blu-ray instead plans to adopt interactive features built using Java technology from Sun Microsystems.

In October, HP had asked that Blu-ray support iHD, saying that technology would have lower development costs, because Microsoft is building it into the next version of the Windows operating system.

The issue of development costs is not a trivial one, and is one that tips decidedly in favor of HD DVD.

Both formats are designed to hold substantially more data than current DVDs, largely in order to accommodate high-definition movies and video games. Blu-ray intends to provide 25GB and 50GB versions, while HD DVD has promised 15GB, 30GB and 45GB versions. HD DVD discs are far more similar to current DVDs in construction, however, and disc manufacturers say that HD DVD will be much less expensive to produce, especially the lower-capacity versions, at least for the foreseeable future.

Sony has denied that the production and development costs will be a problem for their format, and predict that Blu-ray costs will come down rapidly, and the cost difference between the two formats will be small. Thus far, however, Sony’s assertions have not been echoed by independent analysts, or third-party developers.