China threatens a rival high-definition DVD standard
 

China is once again threatening to develop its own high-definition DVD standard in order to break the monopoly of foreign companies and avoid paying licence fees to use international standards.
Lu Da, deputy director of the National Disc Engineering Centre, told Xinhua, the official government news agency, that the new technology will be based on HD DVD but will be incompatible with it. He said the format would provide higher definition, better sound and 'safer' copyright protection.

'With such format and related standards,' Lu said, 'We could have our own voice in the DVD industry.'

The format is not expected to be ready until 2008. The first HD DVD and Blu-ray products are scheduled to reach the market early next year.

Xinhua says that between 70 and 80 per cent of the world's DVD players are made in China and licence fees make up around 40 per cent of the cost of each one according to Lu.

China did introduce its own DVD standard two years ago, the EVD (enhanced versatile disc) but the technology failed to take hold amid legal wranglings.

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