China Blue High-Definition (CBHD; ; alternatively "China High Definition DVD") is a high definition optical disc format announced in September 2007 by the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC) of
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
.
The format is a derivative of the
HD DVD
HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the ...
, a medium created by the
DVD Forum
The DVD Forum is an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and production companies that use and develop the DVD and formerly HD DVD formats. It was initially known as the DVD Consortium when it was founded in 1995.
...
designed to succeed regular
DVDs.
Although HD DVD was scrapped as a result of losing the
format war
A format war is a competition between similar but mutually incompatible technical standards that compete for the same market, such as for data storage devices and recording formats for electronic media. It is often characterized by political ...
to
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
, CBHDs continued to be produced and marketed, though only in China.
History
Originally called CH-DVD, CBHD is a joint venture between the DVD Forum and OMNERC. Development began in 2005, and an early prototype was demonstrated in 2007.
In 2008, during the DVD Forum's 42nd Steering Committee Meeting, the DVD Forum gave OMNERC the permission to edit HD DVD specifications.
Though HD DVD proponents had hoped that CBHD would be a viable successor to the HD DVD format, the CBHD spec was ultimately incompatible with HD DVD players despite the similarities between the two. As a result, CBHD is a proprietary format unique to China.
Technology
Development of CBHD, heavily based on the HD DVD standard, was greatly helped by Japanese engineers. In particular, Hisashi Yamada, former Chief Technology Fellow at Toshiba's Digital Media Network, often referred to as the "father of DVD," has played a key role in China's plan to create its own high-definition consumer video format.
[Japanese engineers help China's homegrown hi-def disc development](_blank)
/ref>
CBHD differs from HD DVD in several key areas. CBHD uses the PRC government-owned AVS video codec
A codec is a device or computer program that encodes or decodes a data stream or signal. ''Codec'' is a portmanteau of coder/decoder.
In electronic communications, an endec is a device that acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or ...
, DRA audio codec,copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media.
Copy protection is most commonly found o ...
system, DKAA, as an alternative to HD DVD's and Blu-ray's AACS.[Why CBHD](_blank)
ChinaHDA.org
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
in addition to reducing their reliance upon foreign patents with their associated royalty payments
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
.[ High-definition discs Industry Alliance of China officially established its debut CH-DVD]
ZDNet China, September 7, 2007
CBHD also eschews HD DVD's Advanced Content Advanced Content provides interactivity in the HD DVD optical disc format.
Advanced Content is used to provide interactive menus and "special features" such as additional bonus/extras content and games for HD DVD (one of the high-definition vide ...
navigation system in favor of a Chinese system called CETC.
Industry support
In early March 2009, Warner Bros. announced they would be supporting the CBHD format, launching with titles including the ''Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...
'' series and ''Blood Diamond
''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mine ...
'', with discs selling for between 50 and 70 yuan (roughly $7.25 to $10.15).
According to an August 2009 television story by ''TV-Tokyo'', CBHD was outselling rival Blu-ray by a margin of 3 to 1 in China (due to heavy advertisement and favored backing from the government).
In September 2009, Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
and National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...
announced their support for the format. Also adding support for the format are Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
(US), Celestial (HK/CN) and BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(UK/US).