[dvd-discuss]New DVD Recording Standard Stirs Interest

["Michael A Rolenz" <Michael.A.Rolenz(at)aero.org>]

Someone sent this to me...the tantalizing question will be what happens to 
the old DVD standard and the CSS if the new standard simply tells the 
DVDCCA to get stuffed.

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It doesn't have a name, and the standard is only roughly spec'd out as a
technology, but the agreement by major DVD player and recorder 
manufacturers
to start building around a standard does offer a glimmer of hope that the
mess of competing DVD-recordable standards will finally be resolved. To
understand why you may not want to buy a new player or recorder for a 
little
while, read the full analysis ..........................


New DVD Recording Standard Stirs Interest
February 22, 2002
By  Mary E. Behr

Nine top companies have signed on to create a new DVD recording standard,
hoping to ease the current confusion  in the market. Today, consumers must
sign on?by dint of the brand of recorder they pick?to one of three
standards: DVD-RAM (backed by Matsushita and Toshiba), DVD-RW (endorsed by
Pioneer), or DVD+RW (pushed  by Philips, Sony, and others). Competing
standards and the still-steep prices of DVD recording hardware are serving
to hold back what otherwise looks like a breakout market.

The as-yet unnamed new standard will be cross-platform, encompassing
consumer set-top hardware and PC  hardware. "The goal is to have one
standard and not have anybody jump ship on it," says Andy Marken,
communications coordinator for the Recordable DVD Council.

The nine companies are Hitachi, LG Electronics (maker of Zenith products),
Matsushita, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung,  Sharp, Sony, and Thomson. Toshiba 
is
not currently involved but is expected to join soon.

According to one estimate, the standard could be published as soon as
mid-2003. Whether the standard will be  backward-compatible with existing
DVD formats is not yet clear.

The standard supports recording, playback, and rewriting of up to 27GB of
data. That may sound like a lot, but it boils  down to 13 hours of 
standard
TV, 2 hours of digital high-definition TV, or a backup of one of today's
gigantic hard  drives.

In order to pack so much on a disc, the laser used to record the 
information
will undergo a color change. Gone will  be today's ruby laser; this new
laser is blue-violet. The format is being called Blu-ray Disc. The
blue-violet laser uses  a shorter wavelength, which decreases beam spot 
size
and increases recording density.

Corporate cooperation aside, blue laser production still needs to be 
refined
and streamlined for better yields, says  Marken. Then the market can take
off. By 2005, Jon Peddie Research predicts sales of 50 million Recordable
DVD  drives worldwide, up from about 10 million units in 2002.