Chengdu in China gets approval to use EVD in digital cinemas

Although Blu-ray and HD DVD are competing to become the next generation
of DVD and FVD players and movies are already available, another next
generation format the
Enhanced Versatile Disc has been approved by the State Administration
of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) in China for use in the Digital Cinema
Business in Chengdu. 

 

However, while EVD equipment does not come cheap at RM 10,000 (~US$1,208)
it is still much cheaper than current imported digital equipment.  With low
cost digital cinema equipment, ticket prices could soon be brought to just RMB 5
(~$0.60) per ticket.  Estimated overall savings by using EVD over
traditional cinemas is expected to be around RMB 1 million
annually.

July 5, 2005 (China Knowledge) - Antaeus Group, owner of Enhanced Versatile Disk (EVD) technology-Beijing E-World Technology, has received approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) to foray into the digital cinema business in Chengdu. This will be followed by digital cinemas in other metropolitan cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The cost of one EVD equipment set is RMB 10,000 (US$1,208), far cheaper compared to the cost of the current imported digital equipment. With a disc copy right permit, movies can be screened 50 times and cost just RMB 2000 (US$242). The low cost of digital cinema technology is expected to see a decrease in cinema ticket prices to as low as RMB 5 per person in the near future.

Chances are that even if the lowered income
countries decide on EVD and FVD, chances are that only either or both Blu-ray and
HD DVD will become mainstream and widely accepted.  It is interesting
however to see Chengdu in China using digital cinemas, especially since film
based projection is still widely used elsewhere. 

Feel free to discuss about EVD and other next
generation optical disc formats on our Satellite, HD-TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD
Forum.

Source: China Knowledge