Enterprising movie pirates in China are reported to be taping into the advanced video compression technology of the AVC HD standard to make cheap high resolution copies of titles without resorting to expensive recordable Blu-ray discs.

The pirates re-encode Blu-ray movies to the AVC HD video format using the lower 720p resolution instead of the full 1080p – a difference they believe is hardly noticeable by most viewers. Such compressed titles produce files small enough to fit on ordinary blank DVDs using easily available software.

Counterfeit discs are then packaged in the familiar blue colour Blu-ray disc cases with cover art including holograms to make them look undistinguishable from the original BD disc. While not optimized to 1080p, users are easily fooled into believing they are watching the real thing as a 720p on a HD ready screen offers a sharper picture than upscaled standard definition DVDs.

Apparently, the telltale sign of a counterfeit hidef version is that fingerprints show up stronger on real Blu-ray discs surface than on the imitations, so long, of course, as the user has both versions to try out and compare!
Chinese authorities claim they have uncovered this operation only last month after raiding a warehouse containing 800 of these discs including several popular Blu-ray titles.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the Motion Picture Association estimates that piracy of high definition discs could reach 10% of movie sale losses caused by piracy in China within the next 6 months. These pirate discs sell for as little as $7, while legitimate Blu-ray discs typically cost up to around $30.

Industry observers reckon that the current economic crisis will provide even more incentives for pirates to produce these cheaper, high definition counterfeits of Blu-ray discs, out of reach of most purses in this region of the world. So far there is no report that these fake Blu-ray discs have appeared outside of Asia.

Story filed 17.11.08