Warner Bros. announces plans to support China's domestic high definition format

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-03 10:06

SHANGHAI, February 27, 2009 – Warner Bros. today announced plans to release titles in China on the domestic high definition format, CBHD. The announcement was made by Tony Vaughan, Managing Director of CAV Warner.

During the first half of 2009, Warner Bros. and New Line will release titles such as “Harry Potter,” “The Golden Compass,” “Speed Racer” and “Blood Diamond” in high definition for the first time in China. As Warner Bros. already publishes in Blu-ray worldwide, the Studio’s titles will be available in China on Blu-ray Disc as well as CBHD.

“The extraordinary picture and sound of high definition is coming to China for the first time,” said Vaughan. “CAV Warner is committed to providing the best home entertainment experience and we support China’s efforts to bring high definition to the mass market.”

CBHD was developed under the supervision of The Ministry of Industry & Information Technology (MIIT) and the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC) at Tsinghua University, in cooperation with leading local Chinese CES manufacturers such as TCL, Shinco and TongFang, and local filmmakers and distributors such as China Record, China Film and Huayi Brothers.

CBHD is a full 1080p high definition quality Chinese format with local and international patent pools and DRM/IP technologies, which can be accessible to the mass Chinese consumer market. Players will be priced initially at RMB1999 ($290 US), and discs at between RMB50-70 ($7.25 - $10.15).

It is estimated that there will be 27 million high definition television Chinese households in 2009, growing rapidly to 47 million in 2010 and 72 million in 2011.