These DVDs will store 15GB of data, which is about triple the current capacity of present-day DVD-Rs.
The new HD-DVD-R should arrive early next year, along with HD-DVD recorders and HD-DVD PC drives, which means consumers will probably have to choose between HD-DVD devices and Sony’s Blu-ray technology.
HD-DVD supporters had discussed a rewritable format, which would hold about 20GB of data. These discs would cost more than a one-time writable version. It appears both will come to market.
It’s the latest in the long-running competition between Toshiba and Sony to have their proposal become the next DVD standard, as players and drives equipped with blue lasers will become the norm. To support high-definition (HD) content, the new standard will have to offer a lot of storage on a single disc.
Sony’s Blu-ray should allow for 50GB storage on one disc, while Toshiba’s HD format was tweaked to store 45GB on a disc. Toshiba has been challenged by Sony partner Matsushita to accept a compromise, where Toshiba software and Sony Blu-ray would together populate new players and PC optical drives.
But Toshiba has refused and continues to press on with its quest to become the standard bearer in the HD war of the discs. The inability of the two standards camps to find a compromise has placed outside supporters, like the movie industry, in a difficult position. No distribution company wants to have to release movies in two different blue laser DVD formats.
And it is possible the distributors could force a solution. By choosing to only support one standard, a company that sells a lot of DVDs like Disney could tip the battle in favor of one side. And at this point, Disney support Blu-ray.
David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
