Hollywood backs Toshiba
p2pnet.net News:- Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros Studios will use Toshiba’s high-definition DVD disc format, HD DVD, says the company.
HD DVD is being developed at the DVD Forum representing more than 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies.
Toshiba plans to launch its first HD DVD products, a CE player and recorder, in the fourth quarter of 2005, and a notebook PC with a built-in HD DVD drive at the end of 2005, it says.
"Every facet of HD DVD development is on track," says Yoshihide Fujii, president and ceo of Toshiba’s Digital Media Network company.
Sony and other electronics, computer and movie industries companies are going for Blu-ray, a competing standard.
A single, dual-layer HD DVD ROM with 30-gig capacity, and based on the same physical disc structure as DVD, can hold up to eight hours of high definition movie content.
"Both HD DVD and Blu-ray technologies use blue lasers, which have shorter wave length than the red lasers used in current DVD equipment, allowing discs to store data at the higher densities needed for high-definition movies and television," says CNN.
"At stake is pole position in the $10 billion-a-year DVD player and recorder market, and a PC drive market of similar size. The winner would be able to license its technology, meaning billions of dollars in royalty income is also up for grabs."
The DVD Forum approved the version 1.0 physical specifications for HD DVD-ROM in February 2004, followed by version 1.0 of the HD DVD-Rewritable format in September 2004. Completion of the HD DVD-R, a one-time recordable format, is also expected by year end.
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See:-
first HD DVD – HD DVD players are expected to become available in late 2005 and widely available in 2006, Toshiba, November 29, 2004
shorter wave length – Toshiba wins HD DVD support, CNN Money, Novermber 29, 2004
