cultshock

I tried to do somewhat of a search, but EVD being only three letters didn't help things.

Anyway, this new format was recently introduced in China because manufacturers there didn't like paying DVD royalties, so they came up with their own higher capacity format: EVD. It will only be sold in China. From what I hear, though, it hasn't really caught on yet, because most people are happy enough with the cheaper DVDs (or even cheaper bootlegs).

I've read a little about EVD and was wondering if anyone knew anything about it. Is it really a HD format? Supposedly one of the introductory titles was the extended version of the Jet Li film Hero. The player costs the equivalent of around $200-300.00. Being a HK/Chinese film buff, and interested in different kinds of video systems, I would be curious about getting one of these. Short of going to China myself, does anyone know of any
sources?

Josh Z

EVD is sort of in a stalemate right now. It was launched, but hasn't really gone anywhere yet. One of the studios supporting the format made a wild claim about over 1000 titles being released by the end of the year, but later announcements about the official HD-DVD and Blu-Ray products launching in China seems to have put a damper on that.

www.hivizone.com sells the Shinco 8830 model EVD player that comes packaged with 5 movies. Those 5 discs are so far the only EVD discs that have been pressed. One of them is the extended version of Hero, yes. But none of the discs have English subtitles.

EVD is a high-definition 1080i video format.

The Shinco player also plays regular DVDs and is region-free.

cultshock

Thanks for the info, Josh, and the link. I was afraid of the fact that the discs wouldn't have English subs. Too bad about that and the lack of titles so far. I would have considered picking it up otherwise, because getting the player and HD discs of Hero (and others) for $245.00 would have been tempting.

Frank S

All the major Studios will NOT support this format so it will NEVER go anywhere in the US or Europe. With the rampant piracy going on in China it would be totally hypocritical of the studios to support a Chinese HD format when they are so concerned with piracy in China. At least with the Blue-Ray and HD-DVD there is copyprotection that the Studios can count on (at least until some 15 year old cracks it).

Josh Z

I think everyone knew that going in. This format wasn't meant for export. It was just an attention-grabbing move for China while the DVD Forum continues to waffle about setting an official HD-DVD standard.

Still, I find it interesting. I'm considering ordering the player anyway. Even if EVD goes nowhere, it will still be a functioning region-free DVD player that I should be able to get a few miles out of.

cultshock

Thats true. If you end up getting one, let us know how it is. I still wouldn't mind one myself, because I have an interest in obsolete or unusual formats. And yes, from the beginning, this format was never intended to be released anywhere other than China. I think it was a combination of attention grabbing, and Chinese manufacturers coming up with a new standard format for China, where they could avoid paying DVD royalties. But, yeah, it looks like its not really going anywhere.

Josh Z

As do I. I once had a working LaserFilm player. No software to play on it, of course, but I got it to power up and generate a blue screen on my TV. Then I donated it to charity.

dleedlee

Taiwan is getting ready to rollout FVD (F=Forward) by year end.

http://optics.org/articles/news/10/4/13/1

mrwilson

Here we go again! HVD was just announced in China on 4/30 too.
Press Release

Josh Z

Man, they've got even crazier format wars over there than we do. Sounds like chaos.

cultshock

Hey, they skipped over GVD. This is getting ridiculous. And we thought the whole upcoming Blu-ray/HD-DVD war was bad.

Josh Z

I was thinking that as well. Someone should create "Great Video Disc" or something to fill in the gap.

Furious

GVD was reserved for Golden Reverance Video Disc Success Number One.