Toshiba, NEC Bring Blue Laser Proposal To DVD Forum

17-Sep-02

Toshiba Corp. and NEC Corp. released details of a blue laser DVD format proposal that they claim will allow manufacturers to continue to use existing DVD plants and equipment, and minimize the investment required for the transition to a new format suited for high-definition (HD) video.The proposal covers prerecorded discs designed to distribute high-definition video, as well as recordable discs. It utilizes a short-wavelength blue laser and the same disc technology used in current DVDs -- back-to-back bonding of two 0.6mm-thick, 120mm discs.The proposed format increases the capacity of prerecorded discs to 15 GB for a single-sided, single-layer disc, and to 30 GB for a single-sided, dual-layer disc. Recordable discs, currently single-sided with a single-layer, would have a capacity of 20 GB. Toshiba and NEC also plan to propose a 40 GB single-sided, dual-layer recordable disc to the DVD Forum.The DVD Forum, which Toshiba chairs, established two subgroups to study different technical approaches toward the next-generation blue laser DVD format in February of this year. One is considering an approach based on a 0.6mm disc substrate, the same method employed in current DVDs, and the other a 0.1mm cover layer, favored by proponents of the Blu-ray disc.Also under consideration by the DVD Forum is a modification of the current red laser DVD standard, to include the use of a more efficient codec than MPEG-2, to realize HD video capacity on DVD-9 discs.