The DVD Killer: Coming to a theater near you
According to ChinaTechNews.com, Zhang Baoquan, president of real estate giant the Jindian Group has said his company will invest RMB 3 billion ($362 million) in the "coming years" to open 200,000 digital EVD theaters in China. Shanghai will be the testing grounds with eight to 25 -- kind of a big range -- EVD theaters. The China Film Corporation and Huaxia Film will also be involved, the three-sentence "story" said. Other published reports showed that something called the Polly Culture Group is part of the plan, as well.
All of this begs the question: What the hell is EVD? Well, an internet search will tell you that Enhanced Versatile Disc is a Chinese innovation launched in 2003 that was expected to rival the DVD and "shake off [China's] previous dependence on foreign technologies," as the People's Daily reportedly put it at the time. Because EVD uses High-Definition TV (HDTV) technology natively, some even labeled EVD the "DVD killer." Hmmmmm. Don't think that's happened yet.
According to stories from 2003, home EVD players cost around RMB 2,000, more than three times the price of a decent Chinese DVD player. And what is the big deal about EVD theaters, anyway? Seems kind of like being invited over to someone's house to watch a movie on his new flat screen TV only to find out all of his friends are loud and obnoxious -- and his popcorn is sweetened, too. Yuck!
Related:
Search results for EVD (EETimes.com)
DVDs with Chinese Characteristics: Coming Soon. The ‘CCP-DVD’ (Angry Chinese Blogger)