China develops new high-def DVD format – vnunet.com — What is the point of this? Better copy-protection is cited. Are you kidding me?

The Foundation of China High Definition DVD Industry Association (CHDA) has announced a new high definition DVD format, provisionally dubbed China High Definition DVD (CH-DVD).

The new format was developed by the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Centre, an optical disc lab at Tsinghua University, in collaboration with the DVD Forum, developers of the HD-DVD format.

Research institutes and manufacturing enterprises in China and abroad have also been involved in the development.

The physical format of CH-DVD is based on HD-DVD and will have similar storage specifications. But the new format includes Chinese-owned intellectual property such as advanced copy protection technology.

The CHDA has pledged to push the promotion of CH-DVD, and hopes to launch a CH-DVD player into the Chinese market in 2008.

The new format is supported by the Chinese government, and will pave the way for the localisation of blue-laser, high-definition DVD in China.



  1. Stu says:

    Well, that’s one market they can lock up – literally.

    What happens if they only allow CH- DVD recorders and players in China? That would screw all the other manufacturers, or at least would make them pay royalties for permission to make and sell the Chinese format.

    The rest of the world would pay up rather than exit the Chinese market. More money flows from the world to China. Nice move.

    In America, we gave manufacturing a low social status, compared to more glamorous fields. Then we kicked manufacturing out of the country, for short term corporate profits. Now manufacturing is done in countries that previously needed our charity. Soon we will hold out our hand for their charity.

    Now, they are going to beat us at – what we thought was – our game. Innovation and design. We will soon learn (again) that we are not the only smart people on the planet.

  2. GigG says:

    “Better copy-protection is cited. ”

    Red China ought to fully grasp the need for that.

    Of course software to hack the better copy protection will be handed out freely to citizens at their equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce.

  3. BillM says:

    Unfortunately, the CH-DVD contains an unacceptably high level of lead and is detrimental to your health!:(

  4. GF says:

    Instead of a FBI warning before the movie there will be a picture of Mao warning he’s watching you.

  5. edwinrogers says:

    The optical format is ended. Go online.

  6. tcc3 says:

    That online thing would be nice for rentals, but not to keep. Too much drm. What happens when i want to watch a tv show but my Xbox 360 doesnt work anymore? – tough cookies. What if the drm license server goes down / company goes under? Look at what happened to all the Google video users.

    I’ll keep the “old school” optical formats, thank you.

  7. bobbo says:

    I read a while back the main motive of the Chinese was to avoid having to make royalty and copyright payments to foreigners. Totally makes sense- – – -split the market making it cheaper for China and more expensive for everyone else.

    I wish I understood economics better. Sure seems to me a country cannot exist or long prosper without a solid manufacturing base- – yet I read that service economies work quite well ala Britain. I doubt it but don’t have the ready analysis.

  8. tallwookie says:

    I’m now planning to pirate chineese movies, pop them onto these CH-DVD discs & then sell them on the street for pennies on the dollar (or the chineese equivilent)…

    Who’s with me?

  9. You says:

    I can imagine what these discs would weigh. Lead is pretty dense.

  10. Jägermeister says:

    #8 – tallwookie

    Just share them freely online… 😉

  11. Angel H. Wong says:

    “But the new format includes Chinese-owned intellectual property such as advanced copy protection technology.”

    In other words: If you hack it we will kill you.

    #7

    I heard that too. It makes me wonder if the major movie studios will lobby to makle CH-DVD as illegal as multiregion DVD players in the USA.

  12. OmarTheAlien says:

    Seems like Chinese style characters (today is the day I can’t spell calligraphy) would be DRM enough. If the discs are Chinese, the content is Chinese, and the market is Chinese then what is the issue?

  13. OvenMaster says:

    #5: if Net Neutrality is enacted, I’ll bet I won’t be able to go online for movies with my 768kbps DSL line. Curses! Foiled again by the Powers That Be!

    #6: streaming video with DRM is the coming wave. Physical optical carriers as a storage medium are a dying breed and will be extinct soon enough. I predict within 10 years.

    Of course, they said that about vinyl LPs too…

  14. TIHZ_HO says:

    #1 “What happens if they only allow CH- DVD recorders and players in China?”

    Never happen – there is no need for it. This would just be another choice for consumers. CH-DVD players would be cheaper though and that might sway consumers.

    Its the HD DVD and Blue ray camps that made a mess with their restrictive licenceing / format war in the first place! So blame them if you want to blame anyone. So WTF?

    China Restrictive? The US made multi region DVD players illegal while in China they are not. Therefore a Chinese portable DVD player can travel with you which is its purpose anyway. If you to travel to Australia and happen see the Fawlty Towers DVD Box set on sale you might want to buy it…right? Not if you are an American you can’t! See?

    Cheers

  15. Rich says:

    I remember reading within the last few years the Chinese were going to produce disks that were the same as or similar to Super Video CD. It would use some crappy low-bitrate MPEG2 but would be a source of pride as it would be a “Chinese only” format. Whatever became of that?


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