Beijing has approved a homegrown audio-video standard that could challenge existing DVD coding formats and pave the way for China to set new global industry standards, state media reported. It is believed the new digital coding and decoding technology, known as AVS, could save China more than US$1 billion in royalty fees. HD DVD, supported by Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba, is currently vying with the Apple, HP and Dell-backed Blu-ray disc to become the next generation of audio-visual technology used in digital televisions, laser discs, digital video, video conferencing and 3G-based data services.