Online retail giant Amazon has given $50 credit to all customers who bought an HD-DVD player before 23 February, the date Toshiba officially surrendered the format war.

In an email sent to relevant customers Amazon wrote: "New technologies don't always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com."

The credit is valid until 9 April 2009 but comes with certain provisos, namely that it cannot be used to buy from third-party merchants on the site and is not eligible for special-order titles, e-books or downloadable e-content, wireless service plans, gift certificates, gift-wrap, taxes, or shipping and handling charges.

Those customers who bought more than one player will receive the $50 credit for each player, up to a maximum of ten units.

It is unclear if UK or other European customers will be given the same credit as Amazon's UK press office was unavailable for comment, despite repeated attempts to contact them.