EVD delcared national standard in China

[lumis]

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/11423

i doubt these will see much popularity outside of asia. it would be nice to see them take hold and force hollywood in to embracing them.. but thats not likely.. they're more interested in protecting their content than making good content.. kinda like giving up your liberties for security..

[edDV]

You can download a player and samples here

http://www.on2.com/vp6.php3

Main reason for this project was to avoid having to pay royalties for HD DVD players made for distribution inside China.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

OK, I'm a little confused.....
one of the things I got from reading that article is that part of the purchase price of every DVD player on the market is actually a royalty fee. am I reading that correctly?
if so, it must not be very much, considering you can pick up APEX, Sorny, & Magnetbox players for $30.00 now
did they really save themselves THAT much $$ by taking all the time and effort to develop their new format??

[MOVIEGEEK]

Taken from another article:
"MII intends EVD to be a guideline for China-based makers in their development and production of ICs, software, discs and players for high-definition digital video entertainment. MII also intends EVD to be a means of freeing Chinese makers from having to pay DVD royalties to the 3C alliance and the 6C alliance, the local media Xinhua Online pointed out. A number of China-based makers of DVD players, including Amoi Electronics, Nanjing Panda Electronics and SVA Information Industry, are paying a royalty of US$10 per exported DVD player to the two groups of patent owners, Xinhua Online noted."
www.digitimes.com/systems/a20050225A7044.html

I find it ironic since most players are made in China.

[edDV]

OK, I'm a little confused.....
one of the things I got from reading that article is that part of the purchase price of every DVD player on the market is actually a royalty fee. am I reading that correctly?
if so, it must not be very much, considering you can pick up APEX, Sorny, & Magnetbox players for $30.00 now
did they really save themselves THAT much $$ by taking all the time and effort to develop their new format??

That $30 player probably lists for $49-59. A normal 5x markup from OEM takes that down to $10-12, so yes any royalty, especially $5-10 will eliminate profits or squeeze distribution margins. Wal-Mart and K-mart buy direct from manufacturer so can take the 5x down to 2-3x.

Software DVD players also need to pay royalties ~$2 MPeg2 + more for AC-3. That is why there is no free DVD playing software. Those that look free are using an existing or stolen decoder (some reverse engineered exceptions). Same goes for MPeg2 and AC-3 encoders for authoring a DVD.