Warner Bros. has decided that it has had enough of this "one HD format" business and now plans to release some of its films in CBHD, a Chinese high-definition disc format that has so far failed to compete with Blu-ray. If other studios join Warner, perhaps the format war isn't over after all.

By Jacqui Cheng | Last updated March 3, 2009 2:42 PM CTText Size Print this article Leave a comment Remember when Blu-ray vanquished HD DVD to become the One True Physical HD Format? Forget about it. China Blue HD (CBHD) is now in the game, at least in the People's Republic. The format got a boost from a Warner Bros. announcement that it plans to support CBHD with a number of its films during the first half of 2009, including Harry Potter titles and Blood Diamond. The studio hopes that its curious decision will extend its reach to more than 70 million Chinese homes by 2011.

The main appeal of CBHD discs and players are that they are cheap to make. OMNERIC, the organization behind CBHD, says that converting a DVD production line to CBHD only costs $800,000, compared to the $3 million (or so) that it would cost to convert to a Blu-ray production plant. Combine that with low licensing fees, and you have discs and players that are more affordable to the typical Chinese customer than Blu-ray.

During the fall of 2008, the CBHD group tried to promote itself among Hollywood movie studios by touting copy protection improvements, but Hollywood was having none of it at the time. It seemed as if the studios were relieved that the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war had finally ended and were looking forward to focusing on a single HD format, but that has now changed. According to Warner's Chinese-language announcement, the CBHD discs will be priced between 50 and 70 yuan (roughly $7.25 to $10.15), and player prices will start at about 1,999 yuan ($290 or so).

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