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8KDVD Blog Format Overview Guides
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The Red Box: Packaging and Presenting an 8KDVD

8KDVD’s retail silhouette is deliberate: a red, DVD-sized case so the format reads as its own object on a shelf full of blue Blu-ray keep cases and black DVD Amarays. Packaging is part of the specification’s public face – logo placement, the project URL, and honest technical callouts matter as much as the VP9 bits inside.

Why the case is DVD-sized and red

DVD footprint keeps mailers, shelves, and existing DVD case stock usable. The red plastic (or red wrap on a clear/standard shell, depending on your supplier) is the quick visual ID. Do not ship 8KDVD in unmarked Blu-ray cases “because the disc is a BD-R”; you will train customers to look for the wrong shape.

Artwork workflow

  1. Download the official Photoshop box template (front, spine, back, QR placeholder, info box) from the project downloads.
  2. Replace key art; keep the mandatory 8KDVD branding and 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com on the back per the current license.
  3. Fill the info box: runtime, year, cast or crew highlights, audio/subtitle languages, and which resolutions ship (8K / 4K / HD / 3D).
  4. Add a QR to your film page or catalogue entry if you use one; empty QR layers look like unfinished print.
  5. Export print-ready PDF/JPG at the template’s bleed settings; proof on paper before a full case run.

What to print on the back (technical honesty)

  • Encode profile class if it sets expectations (e.g. Standard feature vs HQ Plus short).
  • Playback note: Windows Player and Chromium HTML launcher – no claim of a mass-market set-top deck unless you ship one.
  • Media type: BD-R 25 GB / 50 GB / BD-XL as applicable.
  • Subtitle languages and whether they are soft or burned-in.

Disc face and inserts

Label the disc hub clearly with title and “8KDVD.” A bare silver BD-R in a fancy sleeve confuses archivists five years out. Optional booklets help for chapter lists and restoration notes; keep type large – this is living-room packaging, not a CD jewel booklet.

Licensing and branding checklist

Low-budget, free, crowdfunded, and many CC projects can use the artwork and tools under the project’s published free tier; larger commercial budgets owe the modest percentage fee capped in the white paper. Either way, mandatory naming and logo rules still apply. Do not slap third-party Blu-ray or generic “8K” logos on the wrap unless you hold those separate licenses – the 8KDVD marks are not a substitute for Blu-ray Association marks.

Presentation tips for demos and sales

  • Show the red case first, then the menu’s resolution switch – that sequence explains the format faster than a codec lecture.
  • Have a Standard or HQ Plus sample ISO ready so buyers can mount without waiting on a burn.
  • If the title includes 3D anaglyph, pack glasses or state that none are included.

For mail-order, double-box fragile red shells; a cracked hinge turns a careful encode into a returns ticket. Include a one-sheet with the Windows Player download path and a reminder to use UDF-capable mounts for ISOs. Collectors photograph spines – keep title typography consistent across a series so 8KDVD reads as a line, not one-off DIY.

Templates, license text, and sample boxed editions are documented on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com. The red box is not decoration; it is how people find the format when the spine is six metres away.

8KDVD Authoring Blog Guides
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8KDVD Encode Profiles: HQ Plus, HQ, Standard and LP

Video File Maker exposes four named encode profiles – HQ Plus, HQ, Standard, and LP – so authors can match VP9 Profile 2 bitstreams (with Opus audio) to disc capacity and runtime instead of guessing CRF values in a vacuum. Pick the profile before you spend overnight GPU time; the menu and the blank must agree with that choice.

Shared rules

  • Output family: VP9 Profile 2; audio Opus as required by the format body of standards.
  • Batches: separate SDR and HDR10 scripts – HDR preserves metadata when the source carries it; SDR batches will not invent a grade.
  • Source: export SOURCE.mp4 at full 8K (7680×4320) when the project truly is 8K; lesser masters should not wear an 8K badge on the box.
  • Media: plan against 25 GB and 50 GB BD-R, or BD-XL when you need more than a single-layer/dual-layer pair can hold.

HQ Plus

Short premium 8K. Use it for demos, shorts, and showpiece reels where bitrate beats runtime. Sister-site guidance cites roughly seventy minutes near the ~22 GB class for the 8K tier as a planning ballpark – treat that as capacity intuition, then measure your own encode. If your “feature” is two hours, HQ Plus is the wrong button.

HQ

High-bitrate mastering for 8K/4K when you want headroom without the ultra-short constraint of HQ Plus. Suitable for prestige shorts-to-mid features and for keeping 4K fallbacks looking expensive. Expect to lean on 50 GB or BD-XL blanks once runtime climbs.

Standard

The workhorse: about a 100-minute movie on 50 GB-class media. First commercial-style titles and most fan restorations should start here. Standard is also the profile you use to teach the rest of the toolchain – if Standard will not burn and play cleanly, chasing HQ Plus will only hide the same folder or UDF mistakes under prettier pixels.

LP (Long Play)

Pack longer programmes onto 25 GB blanks (or stretch capacity when you refuse a second disc). Detail and high-motion scenes take the hit first. LP is honest engineering for lectures, long concerts, or archive dumps – label the case so nobody expects HQ Plus sharpness.

Choosing quickly

  1. Measure runtime and whether you need true 8K on-disc.
  2. If ~100 minutes and one 50 GB blank → Standard.
  3. If short and showpiece 8K → HQ Plus.
  4. If long and stuck on 25 GB → LP.
  5. If mid-length with quality priority and larger blanks → HQ.

Batch discipline

Run the profile batch that matches the blank you bought. Confirm file sizes before Menu Maker; oversized HQ Plus outputs will not “fit if we omit the menu.” Multi-resolution discs often keep a hero tier at one profile and lighter 4K/HD companions – the menu must list only what exists. After encode, verify VP9 Profile 2 / Opus with your usual media inspector, then assemble UDF 2.60.

After the burn, spot-check a high-motion scene and a dark static scene at the hero resolution. Profile names will not save a bad master – soft focus stays soft – but they will stop you from promising eighty minutes of HQ Plus on a single 25 GB blank. Log the profile on an internal README next to the ISO so remasters six months later use the same contract.

Profile tables, Video File Maker releases, and the authoring guide live on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com. Profiles are capacity tools; use them that way and the red box will match the bits inside.

8KDVD Blog Guides Subtitles
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Adding Subtitles to an 8KDVD Title

Subtitles on 8KDVD sit in an awkward but workable middle ground: the disc UI is browser-based HTML, the video is VP9 Profile 2 with Opus, and there is no Blu-ray-style presentation graphics engine guaranteeing every deck will render the same soft-sub track. Plan for Chromium and the Windows Player, time your cues carefully, and decide early whether you need switchable soft subs or burned-in text that cannot miss.

Soft subs vs burn-in

  • Soft (SRT / WebVTT alongside the menu or player): switchable languages, no re-encode when you fix a typo, better for accessibility and multi-region discs. Depends on the player/launcher honouring the track or the HTML <track> / player API path you wire up.
  • Burn-in (hardcoded into the VP9 encode): universal – whatever opens the video shows the text – but locks language, burns bitrate on glyphs, and forces a full re-encode for corrections.

Prefer soft for dialogue; reserve burn-in for forced narrative cards you refuse to lose, or for archive titles where one language must always appear.

Timing SRT and WebVTT for browser menus

  1. Export a dialogue list from your NLE or subtitle editor with the same frame rate as the master (23.976 vs 24 vs 25 mismatches are the classic “everything drifts after reel two” bug).
  2. Author in SRT first for ease; convert to WebVTT when the HTML5 video element or launcher expects .vtt.
  3. Keep timestamps in HH:MM:SS.mmm (WebVTT) or HH:MM:SS,mmm (SRT) consistently – mixed separators break parsers silently.
  4. Cue length: aim for readable chunks (roughly one to two lines, ≤42 characters per line for living-room distance).
  5. Place cue files where Menu Maker / the launcher expects them; reference them from the menu or player config – orphan .srt files will not invent a track list.
  6. Smoke-test in Chromium: enable the track, scrub mid-film and credits. Use UTF-8; mixed encodings often fail after the first reel.

Sync tips that actually matter

  • Spot-check against a clap or a known line, not against “feels right.”
  • If the whole track is late/early by a constant, shift globally; if drift grows, your frame-rate assumption is wrong – fix the root, do not nudge every tenth cue by hand.
  • If the menu offers both 8K and 4K streams with different leaders, one subtitle file will drift on the other. Pad cues per stream or keep leaders identical.
  • HDR grades can make white text disappear on bright skies; use outlined or shadowed styles when the player allows CSS/WebVTT styling.

Wiring soft subs into the disc UI

Soft subs usually arrive as SRT converted to WebVTT, referenced from the menu page or a small config the Windows Player understands.

  • One file per language, named clearly (en.vtt, de.vtt), UTF-8 without a BOM if a browser chokes on the first cue.
  • A visible menu control: On / Off and language – do not rely on users knowing a keyboard shortcut.
  • Relative paths only – absolute C: leftovers are how living-room demos die. Watch case sensitivity when you author on Windows and test on Linux.
  • If the HTML path refuses local tracks (browser file:// security), fall back to the Windows Player path for that title or burn-in the primary language and keep soft files as a PC-only extra in a documented SUBS folder.

Accessibility without overclaiming

Browser-based disc UI means screen-reader behaviour and forced-narrative support will never match a certified Blu-ray player. Do the basics: high-contrast cues, sane reading speed, separate SDH when you can, and a menu label that says which language is active. Document on the package that subtitles are provided via the HTML/Windows playback path so buyers with exotic HTPC stacks know to test.

Legacy 8KDVD Maker accepted language codes plus SRT during its wizard; the modern Video File Maker + Menu Maker path expects you to integrate cues deliberately. When in doubt, follow the current authoring guide on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com, verify on both Windows Player and Chromium, and treat “works in VLC opened on the raw WebM” as a bonus – not the shipping definition of an 8KDVD subtitle.

8KDVD Blog Guides Menus
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8KDVD Menu Maker: Building Disc Menus That Switch Resolutions

8KDVD menus are HTML and JavaScript living on the disc, not a proprietary Blu-ray HDMV project. Menu Maker exists for authors who want control: background art, chapter entries, and – critically – buttons that switch between 8K, 4K, HD, and optional 3D bitstreams without leaving the launcher. Get the links wrong and users will swear the format is broken when you simply advertised a file you never encoded.

What Menu Maker produces

The tool builds the navigation layer consumed by the Universal Web Launcher and the Windows Player. Output is a menu folder: HTML entry points, assets, and wiring to your Video File Maker tiers. Smoke-test that folder in Chromium on the hard drive. If the menu fails locally, burning will not fix it.

Build workflow

  1. Clone or download 8KDVD-Menu-Maker from GitHub.
  2. Point it at the encoded video tiers from Video File Maker (HQ Plus / HQ / Standard / LP outputs as applicable).
  3. Set background art – stills around 3500 px wide or wider keep large displays from looking soft.
  4. Enter title text and button labels your audience will understand (“Play 4K”, not internal filenames).
  5. Enable only the resolution variants you actually produced. No 8K button without an 8K file.
  6. Add chapter names that match real access points in the encode when the menu supports them.
  7. Export the menu folder into the disc structure beside the media files.
  8. Open the menu HTML in Chromium; click every button once.
  9. Wrap with ImgBurn as UDF 2.60 or drop the folder into your ISO build.

Resolution switching without surprises

Multi-resolution discs are the format’s everyday flexibility: one red case, several decode targets. The menu is the contract. If Standard encode only produced 4K and HD for a long feature, the 8K button should stay off. Conversely, a short HQ Plus demo may ship 8K + 4K and omit LP entirely. Document the available tiers on the packaging back so retail browsers know what the plastic contains.

Design habits that save support mail

  • Keep the first screen sparse: Play, Resolutions, Chapters, Credits.
  • Use high-contrast text over busy key art; living-room viewing distance is not a desktop.
  • Test HDR titles with the Windows HDR path and SDR titles with HDR off – menu chrome should remain readable either way.
  • Ship launchers for the platforms you claim; do not bury index.html five folders deep without a starter.

Browser reality check

Because navigation is web tech, behaviour tracks Chromium more than a Hollywood player SoC. Local file permissions, autoplay policies, and GPU decode limits all show up as “menu bugs.” Prefer the Windows Player for demos; keep the HTML path as the cross-platform fallback (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android). Watch the master tutorial linked from the official authoring guide when the UI fields feel opaque – fifteen minutes of that footage beats guessing button IDs.

When something misbehaves, isolate layers: broken art path vs wrong media URL vs player chrome. Swap in a plain coloured background; if buttons suddenly work, your asset path was wrong. If Play still fails, the menu is fine and the bitstream path is not. Keep a known-good sample ISO from the project site as a control disc so you can tell “my menu” from “this PC cannot decode VP9 at 8K.”

Downloads and the living authoring guide are on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com. Menu Maker is half the modern toolchain; pair it with Video File Maker and only then argue about box art.

8KDVD Authoring Blog Guides
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Authoring Your First 8KDVD: From Encode to Burn

Your first 8KDVD should be boring on purpose: one title, one language, one encode profile, a short menu, then a verified burn. The modern pipeline is Video File Maker → Menu Maker → UDF 2.60 image/burn. Skip the legacy all-in-one wizard unless you are reproducing an old demo.

What you need on the bench

  • Source master: full-resolution SOURCE.mp4 (7680×4320 when you truly have 8K). Keep HDR10 metadata if the project is HDR.
  • Video File Maker (V1.0.1 HDR or current GitHub release) with hundreds of GB free on a fast internal drive.
  • Menu Maker for the HTML navigation layer.
  • ImgBurn (or equivalent) set to UDF revision 2.60.
  • Blank BD-R 25 GB / 50 GB, or BD-XL if capacity planning says so – and a burner that can write them.
  • Windows Player plus a Chromium browser for smoke tests.

Step 1 – Pick a profile before you encode

HQ Plus, HQ, Standard, and LP are capacity contracts, not quality slogans. For a first disc, Standard is the sensible default if you are aiming at a ~100-minute feature on 50 GB-class media. HQ Plus suits short premium 8K demos; LP is for packing longer programmes onto 25 GB. Decide once; do not mix “HQ Plus menu copy” with an LP bitstream.

Step 2 – Encode with Video File Maker

  1. Extract Video File Maker where the batches can write large intermediates.
  2. Place your master where the scripts expect it (follow the release README / authoring guide naming).
  3. Run the SDR or HDR batch that matches your master – do not run HDR scripts on plain SDR hoping for magic.
  4. Optional: prepare anaglyph Source3D.mp4 only if you will ship a 3D menu button.
  5. Confirm outputs are VP9 Profile 2 with Opus as required by the format body of standards.

Step 3 – Build menus

Point Menu Maker at the encoded tiers. Set background art (wide stills work best), title text, and chapter labels. Enable 8K / 4K / HD / 3D links only for files that exist. Export the menu folder into the disc tree beside the media. Open the HTML in Chromium from the hard drive before you burn anything.

Step 4 – Assemble and burn

  1. Collect menu HTML, media, and launchers into one disc root as the authoring guide describes.
  2. In ImgBurn, create an image or write folders with filesystem UDF 2.60, recurse subdirectories, set a sensible volume label.
  3. Burn BD-R/BD-XL at a conservative speed; enable verify.
  4. Play the burn in the Windows Player, then again via the HTML launcher. Switch resolutions once each.

First-disc failure modes

  • Empty ISO / missing files: rebuild from the assembled folder with UDF 2.60; do not assume a wizard left a good image.
  • Menu advertises 8K, only HD plays: you linked a missing tier – re-export Menu Maker.
  • Encode finished, disc won’t fill: wrong profile for runtime; replan bitrate vs blank capacity.

Budget an evening for the first burn even if the encode finished overnight: folder assembly and UDF settings cause more failed discs than codecs. Full living documentation, downloads, and the official authoring guide sit on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com. Get one Standard disc working end-to-end before you chase multi-disc HQ Plus box sets.

8KDVD Blog Guides Playback
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Watching 8KDVD: Windows Player and Browser Fallback

8KDVD playback is a two-lane road: a Windows desktop player for the full experience, and an HTML/Chromium fallback that runs wherever you can open a local disc folder or mounted ISO. There is no consumer set-top “8KDVD deck” shipping as a mass product yet, so plan your watching setup around a PC, mini-PC, or Android device with enough GPU horsepower for VP9 Profile 2 at the resolution you pick in the menu.

Before you press Play

  • Use a Blu-ray-capable optical drive for pressed or burned BD-R/BD-XL media. A plain DVD burner will not read Blu-ray blanks.
  • Mount an ISO the same way you would any UDF volume, or copy the disc tree to a fast SSD if seek times on a flaky burner stall 8K streams.
  • Confirm the display can take the resolution you intend: 8K tiers need an 8K panel (or a downscaling path you trust); 4K and HD buttons are there for a reason.
  • Prefer a Chromium-based browser for the HTML launcher (Chrome, Edge, Chromium, Brave). Firefox may struggle with the same local media pipeline.

Windows Player (preferred path)

The Windows Player from the project’s GitHub releases is the first-class route: full-screen navigation, menu integration, and fewer browser security quirks around local file access. Install the current build, insert or mount the disc, and launch from the player rather than hunting for index.html by hand.

  1. Install the latest Windows Player release.
  2. Insert the 8KDVD or mount the ISO.
  3. Open the title from the player UI so menus and resolution switches load as authored.
  4. Pick 8K, 4K, HD, or 3D only if that button was enabled for real encodes on the disc.
  5. If video stutters, drop one resolution step before blaming the burner – decode load usually beats optical throughput as the first culprit.

HTML / Chromium fallback

On macOS, Linux, Android, or a locked-down Windows box without the native app, open the disc’s HTML menu in a Chromium browser. Launchers shipped on the disc are meant to point you at that entry page. Treat it like a local website: allow local media if the browser prompts, keep the volume mounted while you watch, and avoid “Open with…” random media players that ignore the menu layer entirely.

Android playback needs a drive or a pre-copied folder tree the device can see; USB-OTG Blu-ray enclosures vary wildly – test with a short Standard or LP encode before committing an evening to an HQ Plus master.

Practical troubleshooting

  • Black menu, no video: wrong browser engine, or the volume unmounted mid-session.
  • 8K button dead / wrong stream: that tier was never authored; use 4K/HD.
  • Audio dropouts: Opus decode is light; more often the drive is thrashing – copy to SSD and retry.
  • HDR looks flat: confirm the Windows HDR toggle and that the encode was an HDR batch from Video File Maker, not SDR.

Sample ISOs and player links live on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com. Smoke-test every burn on the same machine class your audience will use; “works on my edit PC” is not the same as “works on a fanless NUC with an external BD-XL.”

8KDVD Blog Format Overview Guides
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What Is 8KDVD? A Format Field Guide

8KDVD is an offline ultra-high-definition disc format from HD DVD Revived. It stores feature video as VP9 Profile 2 with Opus audio on ordinary Blu-ray media imaged as UDF 2.60, and it drives navigation with HTML menus that open in a Chromium-class browser or the dedicated Windows player. Think of it as a physical carrier for 8K (and lower-resolution fallbacks), not a new laser standard and not a streaming app squeezed onto plastic.

What sits on the disc

A finished 8KDVD is a data disc: encoded WebM-style bitstreams, menu HTML/JavaScript, platform launchers, and artwork assets laid out so a PC or Android box can mount the volume and start the menu. The volume format is UDF 2.60 – the same family Blu-ray authoring tools already know – so ImgBurn and similar burners can write 25 GB or 50 GB BD-R, or larger BD-XL blanks when the project needs the headroom.

  • Video: VP9 Profile 2 (SDR or HDR10 batches from Video File Maker).
  • Audio: Opus, muxed with the video tier.
  • UI: browser-based menus built in Menu Maker, with resolution switches (8K / 4K / HD / optional 3D) when those tiers exist.
  • Playback: Windows app first; HTML/Chromium fallback on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.

Encode profiles in one line

Authoring targets four named profiles – HQ Plus, HQ, Standard, and LP – which trade bitrate and runtime against disc capacity. HQ Plus is the short premium 8K tier; Standard is the practical “feature film on 50 GB-class media” setting; LP packs longer programmes onto 25 GB blanks. Pick the profile before you encode; the menu should only advertise resolutions you actually built.

How it differs from Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray

Commercial Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray use MPEG-family video, proprietary menu systems, and licensed player stacks. 8KDVD deliberately uses open codecs and a web menu layer so indie and remaster projects can ship without a Hollywood authoring suite. There is no dedicated living-room 8KDVD deck yet; the published path is the Windows player plus the HTML launcher. Hardware makers can integrate the same menu model later – the navigation was designed with that in mind – but today you plan for a PC, mini-PC, or Android player with a Blu-ray-capable drive (or a copied folder/ISO).

Physical presentation

Retail and demo titles use a red, DVD-sized case so the format reads at arm’s length on a shelf. Photoshop box templates and sample ISOs live on the official project site. Licensing for low-budget and free/CC work is intentionally light; check current terms on 8kdvd.hddvd-revived.com before you brand a commercial release.

Tool chain at a glance

  1. Video File Maker – batch SDR/HDR encodes into the profile set.
  2. Menu Maker – HTML navigation, chapters, resolution buttons.
  3. ImgBurn (or equivalent) – UDF 2.60 image or burn; BD-XL when capacity demands it.
  4. Windows Player / Chromium launcher – verify before you mail discs.

The older all-in-one 8KDVD Maker wizard still exists for demos, but new titles should follow Video File Maker → Menu Maker → ISO. For living docs, profiles, and downloads, start at the official 8KDVD site and work outward from the authoring guide rather than inventing a parallel workflow.

Blog CBHD Guides Professional Authoring
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Professional CBHD Authoring and Verification

Authoring existed-consumers never saw the tools

All research passes agree that no consumer-level CBHD authoring package-the equivalent of DVD Architect, Adobe Encore or a “Sonic Scenarist CBHD”-was ever released publicly. The sharper distinction matters: “there was no CBHD authoring software” is false; “there was no publicly available consumer CBHD authoring package” appears to be true. A professional authoring system existed inside the Memory-Tech / China Record joint ventures. Its software stack has not surfaced in any source found. Searches for Sonic Scenarist HD branded for CBHD and for Chinese tools from OMNERC, 中录 or 清华同方 returned empty.

Memory-Tech, CBC and UOD

Memory-Tech (Japan), the largest HD DVD replicator, developed the complete CBHD production process and planted it in China:

  • Shanghai United Optical Disc Co., Ltd. (UOD, 上海联合光盘) – Memory-Tech’s Shanghai joint venture with China Record Shanghai. Opened the first CBHD line in July 2008. In April 2009 it was described as the only Chinese company with the technology and equipment to produce CBHD discs.
  • CBC – CRC/BMB Audio Visual Co., Ltd. – established jointly by Memory-Tech and China Record Corporation specifically for CBHD editing, encoding and authoring. By March 2009 CBC had completed five Chinese CBHD movie titles with more than twenty in production.

On 23 March 2009 Memory-Tech announced an integrated CBHD production system for China covering editing through mass production. April 2009 announcements described the chain as editing → encoding → authoring → disc production → release; several dozen titles were in preparation at the 22 April launch, and orders for 25 titles had been received from Warner China and CRC. One pass frames this as a government-backed Shanghai facility for “compiling and authoring,” implying a closed workflow on proprietary software with special encoders for AVS/AVC/VC-1 and encryption. Commercial authoring was tightly controlled by the Memory-Tech/CRC joint venture.

Likely production chain

  1. Source material
  2. Encoding / editing at CBC
  3. CBHD authoring at CBC
  4. Premastering
  5. Replication at UOD
  6. Released CBHD disc

Technology flowed Memory-Tech → CBC authoring/encoding → UOD replication. That yields three archives to search for lost authoring software: Memory-Tech, CBC (CRC/BMB) and UOD. Memory-Tech’s March and April 2009 CBHD press releases (memory-tech.co.jp news pages for 23 Mar and 30 Apr 2009) remain primary documents.

What professional authoring had to produce

Beyond elementary AVS or Western video and DRA/Dolby/LPCM audio, a commercial CBHD title needed:

  • Correct UDF volume layout (exact version and identifiers still under investigation).
  • Application structures accepted by CETC navigation-menus, dual highlight regions, preview audio, multi-angle, multi-audio, subtitles.
  • Either DKAA packaging for domestic titles or AACS packaging for international titles.
  • Premasters compatible with 4-6 FSM channel encoding and blue-laser replication-not DVD EFM+ burners.

Early 2009 production faced an encoder gap: China Record did not have an AVS encoder in April 2009, so early discs likely used VC-1 or AVC. AVS + DKAA “new generation” discs were unveiled in September 2009. Professional houses therefore switched profiles mid-life of the format; any recovered toolset may have versioned templates for both generations.

The DCA verifier as specification oracle

The Digital Content Association (DCA) still documents a CBHD-capable verification product:

  • Class A verification system includes a UDF Verifier that validates Book 2 file-system structures for Blu-ray ROM and CBHD media.
  • Video System Verifier supports China HD video content, validating against HD DVD Book 3 1.x specification with supplemental information.
  • Supported items: EVOB, HDi content, Full Trust, Restricted Mode, UDF images, replica discs and raw video-system files.

This implies CBHD did not invent every logical structure from scratch. It reused HD DVD Book 3 assumptions with Chinese supplemental information-consistent with “HD DVD physical architecture + modified Chinese physical channel + modified application/navigation layer + Chinese codecs/DRM.” Locating the DCA verifier executable and its China HD configuration files is a priority research target: it can score candidate images even when original authoring GUIs are lost.

Where the tools might still hide

  1. Memory-Tech internal archives and retired replication-line PCs.
  2. CBC / CRC-BMB editing suites and employee-retained ISOs.
  3. UOD plant engineering stores (premaster formats, job tickets, verifier reports).
  4. CHDA / CHDIA member FTP drops and Wayback captures of chdia.org.cn.
  5. AACS LA CBHD pre-recorded book (v0.90, 7 Oct 2008) for international-title protection parameters.
  6. DCA installer media and licence dongles among former QC houses.

Sonic Scenarist HD remains a search keyword because HD DVD professionals already knew it; absence of public CBHD plugins does not prove Memory-Tech never ran a private branch. Chinese-named muxers and “compiling” tools may never have used the English word authoring in filenames.

Professional vs home: the bright line

Professional production ends in FSM-mastered, replicated discs from UOD. Home experiments that burn UDF trees to DVD+R DL (discussed in the home-authoring post) are a different project even when they reuse AVS encoders. Confusing the two produces false claims that “CBHD authoring is solved” because someone encoded AVS with libxavs. Professional CBHD meant CBC’s closed stack plus Memory-Tech’s channel and replication know-how. Recovery work should prioritise those companies’ artefacts and the DCA verifier over modern DVD authoring suites.

Until those artefacts surface, the verifiable statements are: professional authoring existed; consumer packages did not ship; CBC completed titles before launch; UOD pressed them; DCA still describes how to validate China HD structures against HD DVD Book 3 plus supplements. That is enough to aim archival searches and not enough to press a new commercial CBHD title tomorrow.

Timeline of the professional stack

July 2008: Shanghai United Optical Disc opened the first CBHD production line. March 2009: CBC reported five Chinese titles completed and more than twenty in production; Memory-Tech announced an integrated editing-to-mass-production system on 23 March. Early March 2009: Warner announced support through CAV Warner with launch titles priced ¥50-70. April 2009: Memory-Tech described orders for twenty-five titles from Warner China and CRC and several dozen titles in preparation for the 22 April commercial launch. That sequence shows authoring capacity existed before retail players filled GOME shelves-content was not an afterthought bolted on after hardware shipped.

ChatGPT pass 1 characterises the Shanghai facility as government-backed “compiling and authoring,” implying proprietary encoders for AVS, AVC and VC-1 plus encryption stages. Gemini describes commercial authoring as tightly controlled by the Memory-Tech and China Record joint venture. Neither description names a Windows installer the public could buy. Searches for Sonic Scenarist HD CBHD plugins and for OMNERC, 中录 or 清华同方 consumer tools returned empty in Claude pass 2.

What verification implies about logical structure

DCA’s China HD configuration validating against HD DVD Book 3 1.x with supplemental information-including EVOB, HDi content, Full Trust and Restricted Mode-means professional QC houses treated CBHD as an HD DVD application descendant with Chinese deltas rather than a wholly alien book set. That is encouraging for reconstruction: recover the supplements, and large parts of Book 3 tooling may still apply. It also explains why directory hypotheses swing between CBHD_TS trees and HVDVD_TS/EVOB layouts-both families could appear depending on generation and tool chain.

Primary documents to retrieve next: Memory-Tech’s 23 March and 30 April 2009 press releases; any CBC rate cards or job tickets; UOD replication order forms; DCA verifier installers; AACS CBHD Pre-recorded Book 0.90 for international titles; CHDA 2009 format document referenced for mandatory AVS and DKAA. Those artefacts, not Adobe Encore templates, define professional CBHD.

Early production also faced the AVS encoder gap at China Record in April 2009, so professional houses likely authored VC-1 or AVC titles first and switched to AVS plus DKAA after the September 2009 “new generation” unveil. Any recovered toolset may therefore contain dual templates. QC houses using DCA’s China HD mode would have validated both generations against Book 3 supplements. Hunting for a single “CBHD Scenarist” filename understates how fragmented the private toolchain probably was across encoding, muxing, CETC menu building, DKAA/AACS packaging and premaster hand-off to UOD.

Memory-Tech’s role as the largest former HD DVD replicator explains why CBHD replication appeared quickly after Toshiba exited HD DVD: the company already knew 0.6 mm blue-laser manufacturing and could retarget channel coding and application finishing for Chinese partners. UOD as the April 2009 sole Chinese presser concentrates archaeological risk-and opportunity-in one plant lineage.

Further reading on historic video formats

If you want to learn more about historic video formats, get The History of Physical Video Formats from the Frontier by Stephen Driver on Amazon:

Blog EVD Guides Preservation & Authoring
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EVD Preservation, Identification and Authoring

Authoring today is not a hobbyist path

Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD) discs were not something end users burned at home with Nero-class tools. EE Times in 2006 described Jindian Global as “the only EVD disc maker.” PjTime’s overview of E-World’s professional software names the toolchain that sat behind that monopoly: DVD-to-EVD conversion, AC-3-to-EAC conversion, the OGT subtitle authoring system and the EVD digital video disc authoring system. None of those tools, and none of the SJ/T 11299 standard texts, are publicly available. Video and audio were protected by proprietary encryption.

A step-by-step hobbyist guide to making a playable EVD disc therefore cannot be written from current evidence. Anyone promising a modern “author your own EVD” recipe is either rebranding ordinary DVD authoring or inventing steps the public record does not support. The rest of this post covers what can still be done with existing discs and players: identification, imaging, documentation and hardware care.

Identifying a genuine EVD disc

Check Genuine EVD DVD labelled EVD
Publisher mark Jindian Global (今典环球), Zhongkai (中凯), China Film (中影), China Record (中唱), 山力, 飞仕, 盈艺 Any
Logo EVD logo on disc and case Often “EVD” only in listing text
Period 2004-2008 Any
Standard DVD player Should refuse or show no playable title Plays normally
PC file listing Non-VIDEO_TS structure (expected; undocumented) VIDEO_TS with IFO/VOB
版号 / ISRC Present on legitimate releases –

The modern retail keyword “EVD” on Chinese DVD players is not evidence of a genuine 2004-2008 EVD deck with LSI Logic decode silicon. The same caution applies to discs. A listing that only types “EVD” into the title field while the photographs show ordinary DVD artwork is a DVD until proven otherwise. Ask for publisher marks, an EVD logo on the disc face and case, and a short playback note on a known ordinary DVD player. A genuine title should fail or show nothing playable on that ordinary deck; a mislabelled DVD will play.

On a PC, expect a non-VIDEO_TS layout. The exact directory and file names remain undocumented, so the first public file tree from a commercial disc would itself be a research contribution. Presence of VIDEO_TS with IFO/VOB files is strong evidence that the object is ordinary DVD Video, regardless of how many times the seller wrote EVD in the advertisement.

Imaging an EVD disc on Linux

EVD is physically a DVD with a UDF file system, so ordinary DVD tools can image it. The commands below are standard DVD-imaging procedures. They have not been tested on an EVD disc by any source found for this series; treat them as a reasoned starting procedure, not as a verified EVD cookbook.

# 1. Identify the drive and disc
lsblk
sudo dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/sr0

# 2. Make a sector image with error logging
sudo ddrescue -b 2048 -r 3 /dev/sr0 evd_title.iso evd_title.map

# 3. Hash the image
sha256sum evd_title.iso > evd_title.iso.sha256

# 4. List the UDF directory tree without mounting
7z l evd_title.iso > evd_title_filelist.txt
# or mount read-only:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/evd && sudo mount -o ro,loop -t udf evd_title.iso /mnt/evd
find /mnt/evd -printf '%pt%sn' > evd_title_tree.txt

# 5. Probe any large media files found
for f in $(find /mnt/evd -type f -size +10M); do
  ffprobe -hide_banner "$f" 2> "$(basename "$f").probe.txt"
done

If the disc uses CSS-style drive authentication, ddrescue will report read errors on protected sectors. Record those errors rather than retrying indefinitely. Publishing the output of the file-tree and probe steps would be the first public documentation of the EVD file system. That publication value is why imaging belongs ahead of aggressive playback experiments that might leave a marginal disc worse than you found it.

Imaging on Windows

ImgBurn: Mode, Read, select the drive, choose a destination .iso, then Read. Keep the log. IsoBuster can inspect the UDF structure, export a file list (right-click, Extract / File list), and record sector ranges of large files. 7-Zip can open the .iso to list files. MediaInfo or ffprobe should be run on any large files to see whether they parse as MPEG-2 program or transport streams. Even a “does not parse” result is archival evidence when paired with the file tree and hash.

Documentation package for each disc

  1. Raw ISO image with read log and SHA-256 hash.
  2. File tree listing with sizes.
  3. ffprobe / MediaInfo output for all large files.
  4. Photographs of disc (both sides, including inner-ring matrix/SID codes), case, inlay and any EVD logo.
  5. Publisher, 版号, ISRC, price and purchase source.
  6. Playback test results on a genuine EVD player and on an ordinary DVD player.

The dual playback note is the cheapest authenticity filter. Ordinary DVD behaviour plus VIDEO_TS layout means you imaged a DVD. Refusal on a standard deck plus a non-VIDEO_TS tree plus a period publisher mark is the evidence pattern the identification table predicts for genuine EVD. Hashes and probe sidecars let later researchers compare finds without shipping discs.

Preserving players

Keep the original remote, manual, warranty or repair card and box. Those objects document model and date when the chassis sticker is incomplete. Record the LSI Logic chip marking and any firmware version shown in the setup menu. Store laser pickups away from heat; DVD-era pickups lose output with age. Test component HD output at 1080i and 720p with a display that still accepts analogue component video, and write down which timings worked.

Again, modern shop listings that print “EVD” on a portable DVD player are not substitutes for a documented 2004-2008 model with LSI Logic decode. Preservation notes should name the chip marking you saw, not the marketing keyword on a 2020s carton.

What would unlock EVD

  • The texts of SJ/T 11299.1-4 (disc, file system, A/V data, ExAC audio).
  • A copy of E-World’s EVD authoring system or the 影海风雷 PC player.
  • A published file tree and sample streams from a commercial disc.
  • The LSI Logic decoder part number and firmware from a genuine player.

Those four unlocks map directly onto the gaps that stop authoring guides and soft playback. Standards texts would define containers and audio; authoring or PC-player binaries would show how encryption and menus were applied; a published file tree would end speculation about directory layout; LSI Logic part numbers would tie living-room hardware to silicon documentation. Until they appear, EVD preservation work is imaging, photographing, hashing and refusing to invent playable DIY burns.

Further reading on historic video formats

If you want to learn more about historic video formats, get The History of Physical Video Formats from the Frontier by Stephen Driver on Amazon: