HD-DVD Spec Approved
June 16, 2004
Los Angeles, CA - The DVD Forum has approved HD-DVD 1.0, a specification that will compete with Blu-Ray for the future of the DVD disc format.
According to the DVD Forum, the specification was approved on June 9 or 10, but it seems to set the stage for yet another technology standards battle. The DVD Forum membership includes companies like NEC and Toshiba, developers of the current DVD-R and DVD-RW specifications.
The DVD Forum steering committee approved version 1.0 of the physical specifications for HD-DVD read-only discs and voted to require that makers of HD-DVD video playback devices build in three video codecs, including the VC-9 technology used in Microsoft's Windows Media Video 9.
Also approved by the Forum, specifications on versions up to 2.1 information for DVD-R; 2X-speed DVD-R Optional Specifications Revision 4.0, and versions of DVD Multi specification (version 1.1).
Approval of version 1.0 of the HD-DVD physical specifications gives manufacturers a green light to begin producing devices, according to industry analysts. But it is not apparent whether the HD-DVD format now has an edge over the Blu-ray camp over formatting high-definition programming.
In a contest that echoes the VHS-Betamax war over videotape standards, the Blu-Ray camp has a rival specification, with some flexibilities: for example, a single-layer disc can hold 23.3 GB, 25 GB or 27 GB, while a dual-layer disc will be able to store 46.6 GB, 50 GB or 54 GB of data.
There is also a Chinese format called EVD in the race.
The Blu-Ray Disc Founders Association is led by Sony and Dell. Sony has committed itself to shipping second-generation consumer-oriented Blu-ray video recorders by the end of the year, supporting single-side, dual-layer rewriteable discs with a total capacity of 50 GB. The only Blu-ray recorder currently available in Japan is the Sony BDZ-S77, which is priced at $2,700; the discs themsevles cost about $23 per disc.
Companies like LG Electronics, Matsuhsita, Mitsubishi, and Thomson have so far supported both of the formats.
The DVD Forum could give Microsoft credibility in pursuit of content as it shops its codec--compression-decompression algorithm--to partners and OEMs. Microsoft would benefit should its technology become de facto in set-top boxes, professional video editing equipment, satellite transmissions and consumer electronics.
In addition to requiring the VC-9 codec, when products are made to the HD-DVD video specification for playback devices, the DVD Forum steering committee also mandated the inclusion of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (H.264).
Not all members of the DVD Forum wanted to approve the codecs. There was a motion to delay approval "until the level of information concerning the licensing terms for VC-9 is the same as the level of information concerning the licensing terms for AVC/H.264," according to the Forum's website, but the motion failed.
For more information, visit
www.dvdforum.org
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