DVD-Recordables at JES....................
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TOKYO SHOW '99: DVD RECORDABLE HERE BY SPRING
Panasonic drops bombshell 10/7/1999
By David J. Elrich
TOKYO, JAPAN, October 8, 1999 -- If you've been thinking of buying a plain old DVD player, you might want to hold out just a little bit longer. Panasonic says it will have a DVD recordable model for sale in the U.S. by the spring. The announcement, made here at the Tokyo Electronics Show 99, is the nearest any manufacturer has come to pinning down a shipping date for the coveted technology, previous manufacturer estimates having pinpointed its arrival "around the turn of the century."
Panasonic showed the world's first
standalone DVD recorder
Joining Panasonic in announcing DVD recorders were video powerhouses Toshiba and Hitachi.
In a bit of show floor gamesmanship, Panasonic executives took issue with Philips' earlier claim that its DVD recorder -- when it becomes available -- will be backward compatible.
The DVD recordable format uses a 4.7 GB disc to store up to two hours of MPEG-2 video. The quality of MPEG-2 video is nearly twice as good as VHS. Alas, the copy protection on the new discs will not allow playback on current DVD players.
Bookshelf stereo to go, with slots
for two SD memory cards
A memorable show
The news about recordable DVD was hard to top, but there was a technology that ran a close second at the show: semiconductor memory. That is the generic name for solid-state memory products such as CompactFlash, SmartMedia, SanDisk (SD) Memory and Memory Stick. These stamp-sized media are widely used in digital cameras and portable Internet music players. I gathered from the numerous exhibits that America will be soon be awash with new gadgets using these technologies.
The first thing attendees to the show saw was Sony's huge display of Memory Stick products, including the recently introduced Digital Walkman.
At the other end of the hall, Panasonic had a wide-ranging exhibit of prototypes that use the competing SD Memory format. The possibilities unveiled were breathtaking, including a bookshelf stereo component with CD and two slots for SD Memory cards.
The company also showed cell phones, fax machines, wireless wrist music players, camcorders and GPS systems using SD Memory cards. Company executives downplayed the potential threat of Sony's recentannouncement that six companies had licensed the Memory Stick technology. Instead, they indicated that the SD Memory format (which is also backed by SanDisk and Toshiba) would dominate.
See Part 2 of this show coverage for more news from the floor of the Tokyo Electronics Show 99. |
