It looks like a last stake my be driven through the decaying heart of HD DVD. The last gasp for HD DVD was the China-specific variant CH-DVD, renamed CBHD (China Blue High-definition Disc) in July. While it was reported at the time that Shanghai United Optical Disc was setting up a disc production line and preparing players for market, it seems that has not yet come to pass.
And now DIGITIMES is reporting that China Hualu Panasonic AVC Networks, a joint venture between China-based China Hualu Group and Panasonic, has launched three Blu-ray player models for the domestic Chinese market. The three models are the BDP0801, BDP0810 and BDP0821, with retail prices of 1,999 yuan (US$292), 2,299 yuan and 2,499 yuan respectively. The BDP0801 is an entry-level BonusView/Profile 1.1 model, as is the BDP0810. The BDP0821 is a full-featured BD-Live/Profile 2.0 player.
The article says the CBHD camp still plans to launch players around the end of the year. But seeing as the article is from 12/29 they don’t have much time left to pull that off. And, of course, no western studios have pledged to support CBHD even if it does launch.
Picked up from Blu-ray.com.
