Is there a New Chinese Competitor to Blu-ray?

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/is_warner_brothers_trying_rekindle_hd_format_wars?EMC-R3A917316679' target='_blank'>http://www.maximumpc.com/article/ne...MC-R3A917316679</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Everyone assumed the high definition format war was over after movie studios abruptly bailed on the HD-DVD format seemingly over night, but could it be just beginning? China certainly hopes so, whose China Blue HD (CBHD) just received a shot in the arm from Warner Brother's announcement that it plans to support the format with several films in the first half of 2009."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1236295257.usr10.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>To even have a chance this would have to be absurdly cheap.&nbsp; Cheap as in a $50 player and movies priced comparable to normal DVDs that were preferably dual disks like many HD-DVD's were.&nbsp; Even then, I'd say the chance of success is doubtful.&nbsp; More than likely, this is a play by Warner Brother's to get some kind of concession from the Blu-ray camp.</p>

[Felix Torres]

I think somebody at MaxPC is misreading the announcement; CBHD is essentially the previously-announced CH-DVD which is a China-only variant of HD-DVD built free of "encumbering" western IP licenses.
CBHD - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CH-DVD)
No shock to see WB or any studio interested in legal HD sales in China supporting it.
Now, if WB were to release its catalog on CBHD *outside* China, then that would be news.
But I doubt the contract they signed to move to BD allows it.
Once you sell out your customer base, you have to stay sold-out.