"The Chinese standard, not expected to reach the market until at least 2007, would provide higher definition, better sound and better antipiracy measures over Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, said Lu Da, deputy director of the government-affiliated National Disc Engineering Center.

A month ago, China announced plans to develop its own next-generation DVD standard to break the monopoly of foreign companies and avoid paying heavy licensing fees. DVD Forum, the international standard authority, gave its approval to the move.

The DVD Forum gave its approval few weeks ago for a feasibility study to be conducted on the proposed China-only HD- DVD standard.

China intends to add a new wrinkle to the battle between the competing HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc formats over which will become the dominant new DVD standard.

It was said that the new standard will be based on, but will be incompatible with, HD-DVD, a standard being promoted by Toshiba Latest News about Toshiba and Universal Studios, as well as Intel Latest News about Intel and MicrosoftRelevant Products/Services from Microsoft, the leading suppliers of chips Latest News about Chip and software for most of the world's personal computers.

The Chinese standard, not expected to reach the market until at least 2007, would provide higher definition, better sound and better antipiracy measures over Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, said Lu Da, deputy director of the government-affiliated National Disc Engineering Center.

"We could have our own voice in the DVD industry," Lu said.

The decision marked China's latest attempt to leverage its manufacturing muscle to play by its own terms in the home-video market. Up to 80 percent of DVD players are made in China, but makers have to cough up about 40 percent of the cost of each player to the license holders, according to Chinese reports.

China began developing its own DVD standard in 1999, rolling out EVD (Enhanced Versatile Disc) in November 2003 with a vow to shake off dependence on foreign standards.

Despite strong government backing, the initiative fizzled amid a legal battle between the technology's developer and a consortium of Chinese player manufacturers. Prototype EVD players were introduced in 2004 but never established a presence in the market." [more]