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Toshiba & Memory-Tech Develop New DVD
Two Japanese companies
said Tuesday they have developed a DVD that can play
on both existing machines and the upcoming high-definition
players, raising hopes for a smooth transition as more
people dump old TV sets for better screens.
Toshiba Corp. and Memory-Tech Corp. said their disc has
a dual-layered surface that can store both types of data on the same side.
For
consumers, that would eliminate the potential headache of having to own two
types of DVD players: Both will be able to read such discs, though only the
newer equipment can take advantage of the higher-resolution technology.
The discs, which took six months to
develop, will be able to hold 4.7 GB in the current format
and 15 GB in high resolution, Memory-Tech spokesman Masato
Otsuka said.
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Making the discs won't cost any more than the companies
now spend on producing current DVDs, Otsuka said.
The new DVDs rely on the HD-DVD format, which has the
backing of the DVD Forum, an international association of electronics makers
and movie studios. New DVD players using the format are expected to hit stores
by late 2005.
Its competitor, Blu-Ray, is backed by Sony Corp., its
Hollywood studio and News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc. Blu-Ray has more
storage space, but HD-DVD is expected to be cheaper to produce because its technology
closely resembles current DVDs.
It's still unclear which will become the dominant technology.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2004/12/07/ap1696178.html
