JVC/C-Cube's D-VHS....................................
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D-VHS TO COMPETE WITH DVD
Digital format will also play old VHS tapes 4/11/2000
By David J. Elrich
April 11, 200 -- DVD may be getting some formidable, albeit belated, competition for the consumer's video dollar. A copyright protection breakthrough from JVC will become part of the new D-VHS standard, making possible prerecorded HD (high definition) videotapes, JVC said. It will also let consumers record High Definition and Standard Definition programs. Currently, Panasonic's PV-HD1000 ($999 list) is the only VCR capable of doing this, and it requires a special proprietary connection to Panasonic's digital set-top box decoder in order to function. (For the record, Panasonic owns a majority stake in JVC.)
The specifications for D-VHS were announced by JVC on July 3, 1998. The following March, Sony and JVC announced that they would jointly develop the format. D-VHS tapes can hold up to 44 gigabytes of total data storage, compared to 4.7 gigs per side for current DVD discs (Next-generation DVD products will boost storage capacity to 17GB per disc in a double-layered, double-sided arrangement.) Aside from massive storage capacity, D-VHS hardware has another significant advantage over DVD: It's backwards compatible with conventional VHS cassettes, which means that buying a D-VHS deck won't obsolete a user's existing tape collection.
Most of the major hardware manufacturers, including Panasonic, Phillips, Hitachi, Sony and Thomson have backed D-VHS.
The new technology accommodates digital and analog systems, and is compatible with all TV broadcast systems. D-VHS digital recorders for home use will soon be available from JVC. In addition to developing D-VHS VCRs that are compliant with this new technology, JVC will be working with the hardware industry to promote the adoption of the new system.
One studio on board already
Fox has endorsed the copy protection system for its HD content, and JVC is approaching the other studios for their endorsement as well. Commenting on the potential of D-VHS, News Corporation's Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman and C.E.O. Bill Mechanic said, "This promises to be the system for the content of yesterday, today and tomorrow, allowing the 90 million VHS households, in the U.S. alone, to continue to use their existing VHS libraries. Further, by offering content providers like Fox and the other studios virtually perfect copy protection, it should encourage more availability of HD content for home recording."
Fox's acceptance is noteworthy, because the copy protection issue has been a problem for the format. Warner has had D-VHS titles available for about a year, but studios have been otherwise reluctant to adopt the technology. Hiroki Shimizu, JVC's Senior Managing Director, said: "We hope this development will give the much-needed boost to the HDTV industry by providing long-awaited, high definition content to the consumer."
Good for studios, good for consumers
The system will include Intel's recently announced HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) digital connection for standard and high definition digital signals. The Intel system offers protection for uncompressed digital signals (baseband signal) over DVI (digital visual interface). Additionally, the system will include several IEEE 1394 compatible technologies including DV, DTCP (Digital Transmission Content Protection known as 5C) and a JVC proprietary RDA (Related Device Authentication) System. These technologies will give studios copy protection while allowing consumers to record and play SD and HD digital video programs. JVC will be calling on other hardware manufacturers to adopt this secure digital connection in the future.
The development of a copy protection system acceptable to the major studios and other content providers is obviously significant. But it comes at a time when DVD has built a strong lead in available content. And other, even more technologically advanced formats are just over the horizon. FMD disks are expected in about a year, with an initial capacity of 140 gigs, stored in 10 layers.
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