|
|
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
|
China unveils its own video format
|
|
You are sending an email that contains the article
and a private message for your recipient(s). |
| Your Name: |
|
| Your e-mail: |
* Required! |
| Recipient (e-mail): |
* |
| Subject: |
* |
| Introductory Message: |
|
HTML/Text
(Photo: Yes/No) |
(At the moment, only Text is allowed...)
|
| |
|
| Message Text: |
In a move calculated to separate itself from new consumer
electronics standards emerging elsewhere, China announced a new
digital video format called Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD), a
high-definition consumer optical disk system targeted for use in
much of Asia.
The EVD system, designed to record and playback digital video,
audio and data, will use proprietary video codecs called VP5 and
VP6 developed by On2 Technologies (New York). As part of the EVD
announcement, LSI Logic also claimed to be the first
semiconductor supplier to deliver high-definition EVD technology.
LSI Logic said it would provide encoding and decoding
technologies based on its media processor architecture called
DoMiNo.
China's EVD system can store a two-hour movie in high definition
resolution on a single disk without using a blue laser pick up.
The Chinese initiative flies in the face of industry forums, such
as the DVD Forum and Blu-ray group, who are competing to define
next-generation high-definition optical disk specifications that
effectively cover the rest of the world.
Seeking to control its own destiny, China developed its first
optical-based format to support high-definition playback for
video disk players, home terminals and HDTV devices — tossing a
wild card into the worldwide standards debate.
Among the uncertainties posed by the EVD spec is the payment of
royalties. When EVD players become capable of playing current
generation DVD disks, the EVD system does not necessarily
abrogate any Chinese companies' obligation to pay the royalties
prescribed in the DVD standard.
However, in moving on to the new high-definition system, it would
be more advantageous for China to adopt On2's VP5 and VP6 rather
than using MPEG-2 or emerging H.264 standards-based video codecs,
said Douglas A. McIntyre, chairman, On2's president and chief
executive. “It's a matter of cost and higher compression,” he
said.
According to McIntyre, On2 has agreed with Chinese officials to
provide its proprietary codecs at $2 per player. The company will
charge no fees for disks that use On2's codecs for compression.
“When you consider hundreds and thousands of disks to be sold,
our scheme for no royalty fee per disk is a big advantage,” he
added.
It remains unclear whether China's EVD spec will get any support
from Hollywood studios. Michelle Abraham, senior analyst at
In-Stat, said, “Studios are sitting on the fence about releasing
any high-resolution DVD content. No one seems inclined to move.”
Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers unveiled the first EVD
content and EVD optical disk players in an event held at the
Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. The event was
cohosted by several government ministries. |
|
|
|
|