NEC Starts Selling Optical Video Disc that Can Record on Both Sides
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com
January 20, 2000 (TOKYO) -- NEC Corp. has started selling a new optical disc, the
MVDISC-10A, which can record on both sides.
It is an improved version of the currently available MVDISC and is intended for use with
the company's MV-10000 optical disc video recorder (commonly known as the
GigaStation).
GigaStation has only been able to store data on one side, giving them a capacity of 5.2GB,
but the new double-sided discs can hold double the normal level -- up to 10.4GB. What
this means is that the amount of S-VHS-quality video data that the discs can be used to
record or play back has been increased to four hours. If a lower standard of picture quality
is acceptable, the new discs can be used to store up to eight hours of video footage. The
new discs are priced at 5,400 yen.
In order to enable the discs to hold data on both sides, a manufacturing method is used in
which, in effect, two 5.2GB discs are stuck together back to back. In order to use both
sides of a disc, the user needs to manually eject it, turn it over and reinsert it into the
player/recorder, so any users expecting to be able to record totally seamlessly at a time
should take notice.
Related story:
NEC to Debut Video Recorders with Phase-Change Optical Discs
(Nikkei Electronics) |
