China developing 'super DVD' format
Published: 28 Oct 2003 09:55 GMT
Teams in China aim to release full specifications for a higher-end complement to the DVD format next month.
The new format, called EVD (Enhanced Versatile Disc), will be playable only on EVD players and promises five times the image quality of DVD movies and a higher computer data-storage capacity, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The first EVD players for home consumers will become available in China next year. Details about the format, such as storage capacity, compression format for audio and video files and type of reading laser used have so far been kept under wraps.
Development on the EVD standard began in 1999 and since then, several announced launch dates have been cancelled.
The China-developed EVD standard is among several projects supported by the government in its drive to reduce license fee payments and "shake off dependence on foreign technologies in production", according to Xinhua.
The EVD standard does not appear to be a user-recordable format for now, and aims to complement the DVD movie format for those with high-definition TVs. Talks are going on with film distributors to introduce content on EVD.
An EVD player will cost about $240 (£142), compared with around $85 for the average cost of a domestic DVD player. China-made home DVD players account for up to 70 per cent of the world market. China produced over 30 million DVD players last year.
Chinese manufacturers will welcome the new format, which promises to lead them out of low-end price wars and into the higher-value end of the market, said Xinhua.
The company developing EVD, Beijing E-World Digital Technology, comprises government bodies and 10 domestic electronics manufacturers.
Outside China, competitors have developed similar high-capacity optical disc formats in order to push DVD technology forward.
A DVD-recordable standard, known as Blu-ray, is being promoted by companies including Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Pioneer, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony and Thomson.
Blu-ray technology is designed to allow a single-sided, 12-centimetre disc to hold up to 27GB of storage. The technology uses a short-wavelength blue-violet laser -- instead of the red lasers in current optical drives -- to read data.
Ding Kangyuan, an official with the trade body the China Audio Industries Association (CAIA), believes that if EVD products appear in China within the next three years, it could outflank Blu-ray, at least in the home market.
News.com's Richard Shim contributed to this report.
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