It said the French firm Thomson and Japanese giant Sony are two major patent holders antagonizing the sharp increase in royalties.

A SIPO official, who declined to be named, said she had no knowledge of the royalty charge list. Thomson was not immediately available to comment.

Skyworth President Zhang Xuebin said earlier that US$10 might be a reasonable price.

Bao Ran, editor of the Consumer Electronics World magazine and a digital TV expert, said the charges from the ATSC standard are too high. The European DVB-T standard charges less than US$1 per unit.

Lin Yuanfang, vice-president of the China Video Industry Association, which groups all major TV makers in China, said in an earlier interview that 13 leading TV makers were discussing forming a joint venture, one primary function of which would be royalty negotiations.

Last year, China produced half of the world's TV sets, with Shenzhen as the nation's biggest TV manufacturing base.

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