The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is expected to issue an industrial
standard for EVD (enhanced versatile disc) technology, a next-generation disc format
developed in China that could eventually challenge DVD technology.
An alliance of
digital disc companies set up by the MII and operating under a corporate entity called the
Beijing E-World Digital Technology Co has been working on EVD development since
1999.
The plan is to reduce the reliance on foreign technology for Chinese
manufacturers of digital disc players, whose products account for almost 70 percent of the
world market.
Players using EVD technology are expected to provide as much as five
times the quality of image definition compared with current DVD players and should be
available in China from next year.
EVD player prices will be set around RMB 2,000,
compared with around RMB 700 for the average cost of a domestic DVD player.
China produced over 30 million DVD players in 2002 – almost doubling the figure in
2001 – and nearly 20 million units were exported last year.
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