DVD-18 Discs To Premiere

Movies on DVD-18 discs are slated to premiere later in 1999 according to a recent symposium on the subject hosted by Warner Advanced Media Operations (WAMO) and the alliance of equipment manufacturers behind DVD-14-18 replication. New Line Home Video is taking an aggressive stance in support of utilizing the DVD-18 technology. New Line has produced some of the most sophisticated DVDs to date, such as the feature-loaded Lost In Space. Other major Hollywood studios are expected to support the DVD-18 format as well.Technically, a DVD-18 is essentially two DVD-9 dual-layers glued together. The manufacturing cost is targeted to be less than or equal to the cost of two DVD-9 discs.At the symposium, WAMO demonstrated a prototype DVD-18 disc, playing back samples of Warner music videos and movie previews on a common Toshiba DVD-ROM drive. Movies are expected to be the first entertainment use of the DVD-14 and DVD-18 formats, not DVD-ROM games (which remain embedded with CD-ROM technology). James Cameron was referenced as holding out releasing his hit movie Titanic on DVD until such time that DVD-18 technology was ready so that he could put both widescreen and pan-and-scan versions on one disc.