| |  | NEWS |  | Ritek 8x DVD+R DL Media Receives Philips Certification Ritek 8x DVD+R DL Media Receives Philips Certification
It looks like Verbatim isn't the only company with 8x DVD+R DL media. According to DigiTimes, Ritek recently received certification from Philips for their 8x DVD+R DL discs.
Ritek on October 11 announced it recently obtained Philips certification for its 8x DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs. In late September of this year, Optodisc Technology secured Philips certification for its 16x DVD+R discs, according to company PR manager Robert Chang.
Although Ritek has already begun production of 8x DVD+R DL discs, the Philips certification will enhance its competition for OEM orders, company spokesman Eric Ai pointed out. Global demand for DVD+R/-R DL discs is estimated to be 50 million discs for this year based on the current retail price of US$4, and in 2006 will grow to 200 million discs at the same price or 500 million discs if retail prices fall to US$2, Ritek CEO Gordon Yeh indicated.
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| The latest on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Get the latest news and information about the upcoming HD-DVD format. All about Blue-laser and Blu-ray is here. We will bring you links, opinions, news and the status of the upcoming format. |
| HD DVD-R HD-DVD Status and Editorial:
Updeted 11th February 2008
HD DVD is how your HD TV lives up to its full cinematic potential. Combining the best of HD with the best of DVD, HD DVD brings you:
Six times the picture quality of standard formats. Explosionier explosions, pulse-quickenier suspense and more adjectivey everything.
Up to 7.1 channels of master-quality lossless surround sound. That’s better than what you hear at your local Cineplex.
Exclusive interactive features like picture-in-picture playability, alternate camera angle views, downloadable bonus content and more.1
Backwards compatibility. Your HD DVD player plays all your standard DVDs with improved resolution.2
How Does HD DVD Do It?
HD DVD improves powerfully upon the technological foundation of DVD, replacing the red laser reader of a standard DVD player with a blue laser. Because blue lasers scan data using shorter wavelengths than red lasers, manufacturers can store three times more data on an HD DVD disc. That's what allows you to experience the eye-popping 1080p high-def picture, window-shattery surround sound and awesome interactivity that you can get only with HD DVD.
Blu-ray and HD-DVD Basics
The Current State Of DVD
DVD is very successful, and will definitely be around for some time. However as it is implemented, DVD is not a high-definition format. DVD players typically output video in either standard NTSC 480i (720x480 pixels in an interlaced scan format), with progressive scan DVD players capable of outputting DVD video in 480p (720x480 pixels displayed in a progressively scanned format). Although DVD has superior resolution and image quality, when compared to VHS and standard cable television, it is still only half the resolution of HDTV.
Upscaling - Getting More Out Of Standard DVD
In an effort to maximize the quality of DVD for display on today's HDTVs, many manufacturers have introduced upscaling capabilities through DVI and/or HDMI output connections on newer DVD players.
Upscaling is a process that mathematically matches the pixel count of the output of the DVD signal to the physical pixel count on an HDTV, which is typically 1280x720 (720p), 1920x1080 (1080i), or 1920x1080p (1080p).
The upscaling process does a good job of matching the upscaled pixel output of a DVD player to the native pixel display resolution of an HDTV capable television, resulting in better detail and color consistency. However, upscaling, as it is currently implemented, cannot convert standard DVD images into true high-definition images. In fact, although upscaling works well with fixed pixel displays, such as Plasma and LCD televisions, results are not always consistent on CRT-based high definition televisions.
True High Definition DVD Is Finally Here...
For the past several years, high definition DVD player and recorder prototypes have been on display at trade shows. Now, both HD-DVD and Blu-ray players are now available, with units adding recording capability also available in some PCs and Laptops, to be followed by standard HD-DVD and Blu-ray recorders available possibly sometime in 2008 or 2009 in the U.S. Market.
Employing Blue Laser technology (which has a much shorter wavelength than the red laser technology used in current DVD) high definition DVD enables a disc the size of a current DVD disc (but, which much greater storage capacity than a standard DVD) to hold an entire film at HDTV resolution or allow the consumer to record two hours of high definition video content.
Two Competing High Definition DVD Formats
However, there is a catch with regards to the introduction of high definition DVD recording and playback. You guessed it; there are two competing formats that are incompatible with each other.
The competing formats are Blu-ray and HD-DVD:
Blu-ray Support
Blu-ray is supported on the hardware side by Apple, Denon, Hitachi, LG, Matsushita (Panasonic), Pioneer, Philips, Samsung (also supports HD-DVD), Sharp, Sony, and Thomson (Note: Thomson also supports HD-DVD).
On the software side, Blu-ray is supported by Lions Gate, MGM, Miramax, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, New Line, and Warner.
HD-DVD Support
HD-DVD is supported on the hardware side by NEC, Onkyo, Samsung (also supports Blu-ray) Sanyo, Thomson (Note: Thomson also supports Blu-ray), and Toshiba.
On the software side, HD-DVD is supported by BCI, Dreamworks, Paramount Pictures, Studio Canal, and Universal Pictures, and Warner (only until May 2008 - at which time it will be Blu-ray exclusive). Microsoft has also lent its support to HD-DVD.
Basic Specifications Of Blu-ray and HD-DVD
Although both Blu-ray and HD-DVD will support both recording and playback of high definition material with the same expected result, in terms of video and audio quality, there are differences between the two formats.
General Specifications - Blu-ray:
Storage Capacity - Pre-recorded Playback Material (BD-ROM): Single-layer (25GB) - Dual-layer (50GB)
Storage Capacity: Home Recording (BD-R/BD-RE): Single-layer (25GB) - Dual-layer (50GB)
Data Transfer Rate: 36 to 48 MBPS (Megabits per Second) average - capable of up to 54 MPS - This exceeds the 19.3 Mbps transfer rate approved for HDTV broadcasts.
Disc Properties: New format requiring retooling and/or construction of new disc manufacturing and replication plants.
Video Specifications: Compatible with full MPEG2 Encoding, as well as MPEG4 and VC1.
Audio Specifications: Only Dolby Digital, DTS, and Uncompressed PCM are required on all players. However, the following formats are optional - Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD.
Network Capability: Although the Blu-ray format supports networking and internet capabilities, built-in networking and ethernet ports on individual Blu-ray Disc Players is optional.
General Specifications - HD-DVD
Storage Capacity - Pre-recorded playback material (HD-DVD-ROM): Single-layer (15GB) - Dual-layer (30GB) - Triple Layer (51GB - pending)
Storage Capacity - Home Recording (HD-DVD-R/HD-DVD-Rewritable): Single-layer (20GB) - Dual-Sided Disc (40GB) - Dual Layer (35GB - proposed).
Data Transfer Rate: 36 MBPS (Megabits per Second) - This exceeds the 19.3 Mbps transfer rate approved for HDTV broadcasts.
Disc Properties: Format similar to existing DVD disc structure, requiring minimal upgrading and retooling of existing DVD disc manufacturing and replication plants.
Video Specifications: Compatible with MPEG2, MPEG4, and VC1 Encoding.
Audio Specifications: All HD-DVD players are required to incorporate the following - Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, and Uncompressed PCM, as well as standard Dolby Digital and DTS.
Network Capability: All HD-DVD players are required to be network enabled and be equipped with a built-in Ethernet port for downloading firmware updates and other interactive features.
The Impact Of Blu-ray and HD-DVD On Consumers
How Blu-ray and HD-DVD Will Affect The Consumer
Based on the extensive hardware support by manufacturers for the Blu-ray format, it would appear logical to adopt Blu-ray as the standard for high definition DVD, as it has more supporters, but HD-DVD has one key advantage.
For Blu-ray, new facilities are required for manufacturing discs and players as well as movie disc replication. However, due to the fact that the physical specifications for HD-DVD has a lot in common with standard DVD, most of the manufacturing plants making current DVD players, discs, and movie releases can still be used for HD-DVD.
While HD-DVD may have the advantage with regards to simpler production start-up, with potentially lower initial costs, the key advantage of Blu-ray over HD-DVD is storage capacity.
Because of larger disc capacity, a Blu-ray disc can more easily accommodate full-length feature films and extra features.
To counter this, HD-DVD has implemented multi-layerd discs, as well as employing VC1 compression technology, which allows for more content, without loss of quality, on its smaller storage capacity disc. This enables the HD-DVD format to accommodate additional features and longer films on a single disc.
Blu-ray And HD-DVD Availability
HD-DVD and Blu-ray players are now available, with standalone recorders expected in 2008 or 2009 in the U.S.
One of the holdups with regards to the availability of Blu-ray or HD-DVD recording, are specifications for copy-protection that will meet the needs of both broadcasters and movie studios. On the other hand, Pioneer has introduced Blu-ray format writers for PCs, and Sony has introduced Blu-ray Laptops and Desktops. Toshiba has introduced HD-DVD read drives in Laptop PCs.
There are films and video content now available on both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD format. Currently, there are over two hundred titles available in each format, with more titles being released on a weekly basis. Prices for the titles are about $5-or-$10 more than current DVDs. Prices for movies, just as for players, are expected to go down over time as competition heats up and more disc quantities of each film are produced.
NOTE: Movies from some studios are available in either Blu-ray or HD-DVD, but not both. You cannot play a Blu-ray movie on an HD-DVD player, or vice versa.
Blu-ray Region Coding:
Region A: U.S., Japan, Latin America, East Asia (except China).
Region B: Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand
Region C: China, Russia, Remaining countries.
There is no announced Region Coding for HD-DVD (so far).
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