Known as AVS, the move eschews the ongoing debate over HD DVD and Blu-ray, which until now were the only competing standards for the next wave of DVD technology.
And, according to China’s Ministry of Information, the approval of its own commercial standard could save China an estimated $1 billion in royalty fees since it would not have to buy the technology from Japan, where HD DVD and Blu-ray were produced.
As it stands now, the HD DVD is a format supported by several big names, including semiconductor and software giants Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba.
Blu-ray, however, touts its own powerful backers, including Sony, Apple, HP and Dell.
China’s move may be good news for HD DVD supporters, however, as the new AVS standard is compatible with the HD DVD system.
China’s MIS said the country expects to begin implementing the technology in mobile television services as early as December 30.
"We expect [the technology] to be widely used in domestic industries and hopefully become the national standard," Huang Tiejun, secretary-general of the AVS working committee at the Ministry, told the China Daily.
The AVS announcement is just the latest Chinese move to free itself from technology patents largely held by European and U.S. companies.
