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: