(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Karl Bode




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

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?

34 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

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(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:14pm

    Eh...

    by Scott

    Time to learn some Mandarin pretty soon, anyway. You'll see.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:22pm

    While America Sleeps

    by ScaredOfTheMan

    The Chinese Tigers grows stronger.....

    I can tell you one thing, while we bicker and whine over copyright, DRM, and Patents. The Chinese and the Indian's are busy hyper-innovating since they are not held back by the same fear of lawsuits we are.

    Just give them 10-20 more years.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:22pm
    by Stu

    Just another reason to feel like prey.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:23pm
    by Tashi

    Ni Hao pengyou!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:23pm

    Re: Eh...

    by Alex

    oh man, chinese is hard stuff to learn. waking up at 7:00 to make the only class available, thats rough.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:46pm
    by Anonymous Coward

    The compression software will get out. Remember VCD/SVCD was an alternative to the DVD.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 8:49pm
    by Alex

    >Have we reached the disc-less future yet?

    My bittorrent client says yes =D

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 9:08pm

    My Name...

    by Rosetta Stone

    Name says it all. Rosetta Stone software, same stuff used by the CIA and FBI to quickly teach people languages, can be purchased by you to learn Chinese (Mandarin)!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 9:25pm
    by 3TheTruth4

    Why does everyone want a disc-less future? I love the physical copy. Whether it is a CD, DVD, anything. Downloading off of iTunes my be simple, but nothing can substitute the record, or the CD book, DVD case.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 9:33pm

    We could go EVD ...

    by Frank

    but that we be much like going with Beta Max. The content providers can choose where there movies go ... if they choose not to release them on EVD (without DRM) then your player isn't worth much.

    The answer is for the public to boycott the DRM model; but as iTunes shows, the public isn't going to. Therefore the content provider -- and DRM -- win.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 9:58pm

    Re: Eh...

    by Count Porkula

    "Time to learn some Mandarin pretty soon, anyway. You'll see."

    So true.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. Dec 6th, 2006 @ 10:45pm

    Sure, in HD, but what about storage capacity?

    by Anonymous Coward

    Sure these things can hold 1080p video - but does it have the storage capacity for that to matter a damn? If the medium doesn't have the capacity, it doesn't matter how high it can store if its only 10 minutes of video...

    Think Betamax - it could hold higher quality video, but the storage capacity wasn't enough. The difference between Betamax and Blu-Ray which comparisions are being made between, is that BDROMs hold the same high-def video the others such as HDDVD and this "EVD" medium - except that BDROMs actually have the data capacity to hold more video than any of the others - hence why it would be so much more expensive (yes, its still ridiculously expensive even so, but at least a fraction of it is justified)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  13. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 12:03am
    by CB

    We dont need to learn Mandarin... thats a pretty ignorant statement... They pay their base workers 47 cents an hour... lol... are you interested in working for that?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  14. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 12:33am

    Re:

    by Anonymous Coward

    British workers get a $10 min a hour, US workers are getting less, your point being?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  15. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 1:28am
    by Anonymous Coward

    >British workers get a $10 min a hour, US workers are getting less, your point being?

    We also get taxed throught the ass. But thats not on subject here.

    As long as we have clever people to hack firmware etc i cant personally see an issue. There is always someone working agains DRM. Easier to sit back, and watch the future arrive, both its pros and its cons.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  16. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 5:51am

    Re: by CB on Dec 7th, 2006 @ 12:03am

    by LJSeinfeld

    We dont need to learn Mandarin... thats a pretty ignorant statement... They pay their base workers 47 cents an hour... lol... are you interested in working for that?

    It won't really matter if you're *interested* in working for 47 cent's/hour once China is running the show (globally)....

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  17. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 7:05am

    Re: Sure, in HD, but what about storage capacity?

    by Anonymous Coward

    Excess storage is wasted money. If I don't need 5TB to store a movie, I sure as hell don't want to pay for a disc that could, simply because it can.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  18. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 7:38am
    by xxx guy

    Well look at the porn industry. One movie in particular caught my eye. Pirates (2 hours 10 minutes) came out just before HD-DVD did and it included a regular dvd-9 disc with a 720p WM9 compressed version of the film. I'm sure that with better modern compression, and maybe a DVD-15 disc, they could easily fit a 1080p movie plus extras.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  19. Dec 7th, 2006 @ 7:08pm
    by Gary

    "Instead, you can look forward to paying Sony $1,000 for their latest DRM-soaked Blu-Ray player"

    No, I won't pay that kind of money. I don't need Blu-ray

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  20. Dec 13th, 2006 @ 5:36pm

    Buy the PS3

    Blu-ray Players are expensive. Just Buy the PS3.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  21. Dec 16th, 2006 @ 11:40am

    prices will come down

    Like every other new technology, prices will eventually come down to earth. I'd stick with those reputable companies over a commie backed standard anyday!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  22. Dec 18th, 2006 @ 4:35pm

    Re: Buy the PS3

    by XBOX360

    I would need a system that could run for longer than 30 mins though... The idea of watching 30 mins of a movie and then letting my player "cool-down" for 20 min and then watching another 30 mins etc... just isn't very appealing! :-) Not a M$ fan but the xbox 360 blows the doors off of Sony's sleek looking brick thus far. After the 4th freeze, I sold my PS3 and am now trying to score a WII in it's absence. Wish to see if I can break my display with some violent tennis!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  23. Jan 1st, 2007 @ 9:31pm

    Avast ye scurvy swabs!

    by ยต_Pro

    Sony, MGM, Paramount and all those other RIAA types have been overcharging us BIGTIME for years. They are getting what they deserve. Who cares if the content providers have EVD versions available. Burn your own copy for free! Pirate their media, loot and pillage their corporate machine. Hopefully Vista and it's DRM defective by design will bring Microsoft to it's knees too. Serves em right.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  24. Jan 6th, 2007 @ 7:40am

    Re:

    by Justin

    No. VCD and SVCD were intended as replacements for VHS video tape.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  25. Jan 9th, 2007 @ 7:34pm

    Re: We could go EVD ...

    by Atari

    If you don't know how to dake DRM's off an itune, then you don't know alot about computers...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  26. Jan 19th, 2007 @ 10:31am

    What is 1080p?

    by HDDUMMY

    What is 1080p? I heard Jessica Simpson was asking the same question.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  27. Jan 29th, 2007 @ 6:21pm

    Itunes DRM

    by Josh

    It's true Itunes music drm can be bypassed by burning to cd but Itunes video drm is another story.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  28. Feb 8th, 2007 @ 6:11pm

    Re: Re: by CB on Dec 7th, 2006 @ 12:03am

    by Anonymous Coward

    The day will not be long.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  29. Feb 27th, 2007 @ 9:23pm

    Re: What is 1080p?

    by rajat

    1080p means, it's having 1080 horizontal lines in your display...
    very high quality video...isn't it..

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  30. Jul 24th, 2007 @ 10:51am
    by futureshop

    i can sell you a blu-ray player for 499 a sony one at that. I dont know why people think its 1000$ even a toshiba hd player is only 329$ Prices will drop again in the near future too. Buy a player with a hd tv and ask for an even better price. Good luck everyone

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  31. Oct 19th, 2007 @ 2:10pm

    Learning Mandarin

    You don't have to learn Mandarin to make 47 cents an hour...you need to learn it to have 47 cents per hour workers.

    Either way, you have to learn it!

    OK...you don't have to learn it. But, fat dumb and lazy is no way to go through life....why wouldn't you learn it! (I'm not learning it...and now I'm going to stop typing).

    Thanks for listening.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  32. Nov 8th, 2007 @ 10:19pm

    Making BD in China

    by Jack

    I don't think it is secret that China is making Blu-ray.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  33. Jan 9th, 2008 @ 7:54am

    Re:

    by wow

    yeah, it's called a hard disk you faggot

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  34. Mar 2nd, 2008 @ 11:33am
    by re.re. buy the ps3

    30 minutes of video? ive had my ps3 on for 2 days straight with out freezing you have no idea what you are talking about, all you need is a fan to sit on top 20$ not a big deal if u got 400 for the ps3, the only thing 360 has is a large fan base everything else just isnt as good as ps3

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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