I like HD-DVD. I don’t like oppressive regimes. So, I have mixed feelings that China and Toshiba have teamed up for CH-DVD.
CH-DVD is essentially HD-DVD with slightly different encryption. There’s no difference in the discs or way the discs are played other than that.
The difference is, it will win the format war in China, as the government has certified it as the high-definition movie format for the entire nation. Sorry Blu-Ray. China says it is doing this to curb piracy.
I find it laughable that such a closed government, based on an archaic form of government, would feel that using a dead format is the right thing to do. If anything, it will likely increase piracy. The minute that technology is broken, the pirate shops will have unfettered access to the nation’s CH-DVD players.
Arguably, the only winner here are movie studios. With internal piracy in China to proliferate on CH/HD-DVD, those discs are going to be useless outside the country with the rest of the world using Blu-Ray.
Mr. Toshiba, tear down this platform wall. Either get back into the swing of things with a new, cheaper HD-DVD, or get out of it completely.