China's Cheap Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Alternative You'll Never See

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the yet-another-standard dept

China has traditionally treated any kind of global technology standard like the bubonic plague, offering up their own standards in an effort to limit reliance on foreign technology, and net licensing fees should the standards see foreign adoption. This government backed push has included attempts to create their own Wi-Fi encryption standard (WAPI), their own 3G wireless standard (TD-SCDMA), and their own next-generation DVD standard, dubbed EVD (enhanced versatile disc). First introduced back in 2003, the solution waddled aimlessly for a while as creators squabbled over royalties. Today Chinese hardware vendors unveiled the first round of prototype EVD players, and promised they’d switch to the new standard completely by 2008. The standard uses conventional red lasers combined with advanced compression technology to soak your retinas with 1080p HD video, but at a fraction of the cost of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray players. High-def capable players at prices as low as $87 sure sounds tasty, but adoption elsewhere is unlikely, given the collective muscle of the companies backing the primary two next-gen DVD formats. Instead, you can look forward to paying Sony $1,000 for their latest DRM-soaked Blu-Ray player, and watching industry heavyweights and their respective fanboys pummel each other senseless. Have we reached the disc-less future yet?