DVD in Korea. Everybody uses ZiVA. Slow local markets, OEMs looking for exports............................................
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DVD - Technology Update
KOREA - Makers focusing on exports amid slow local uptake
Makers in Korea consider DVD to be one of the most promising emerging technologies. However, the market is not mature enough for mass output. Although the DVD era is imminent, uptake will be much slower than was first expected. One of the main reasons for this is the Asian economic crisis that has lead to a fall in domestic demand.
Because of poor local demand, makers are trying to focus on exports rather than on the domestic market. LG Electronics Co. Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd are major players in DVD development. Other small- and medium-sized companies are focusing on the DVD board area. Also, Samsung Electronics and smaller companies are focusing on DVD software titles.
Standards resolved, issue now software titles, compatibility
As for the DVD standards issue, sources say that the most difficult problems have already been resolved. The main issue now is how quickly DVD-related software titles can be developed by makers. Sources claim that time will resolve most compatibility issues.
Samsung is now part of the MPEG LA patent portfolio that awards royalties to members every time MPEG-2 is used. The company has developed a DVD-RAM drive, the SDW-130, which can store a maximum of 5.2G of data. The SDW-130 is compatible with CD-R and CD-RW disks, according to Jae Yong Huh, assistant manager of the company's PR department. Samsung also focuses on developing components such as optical pick-ups. The company has adopted a laser pickup system that can read and write from/to DVD-RAM disks and read from DVD-ROM and DVD-R disks at 2-speed, and read from CD-ROM disks at 24-speed.
Late 1998 may see DVD boom
Samsung expects that demand for DVD-RAM drives will increase to 1 million this year. Samsung is also offering its SDR-130 DVD-ROM drive that can read CD-R disks. The SDR-130 is MPEG-2 compatible, and Samsung plans to develop a new model that is compatible with both CD-R disks and DVD-RAM disks. According to Hu: "The market has not matured as quickly as we expected, so we will just wait and see what will happen. However, we think that the latter part of 1998 will be the beginning of the real market boom. Consequently, we plan to release a new model in the near future."
LG Electronics mainly focuses on DVD-ROM drives and DVD Players and is offering two models for export. The company's DRD-820B is a second-generation DVD drive that can transfer DVD files at a rate of up to 2.7MBps. It can read standard CDs and CD-RWs at up to 3.6MBps or 24-speed. Jae Yup Jung, assistant manager at the company's PR department, said: "This is our main export model at the moment, but we plan to release 4-speed models very soon." LG is also trying hard to increase the ratio of in-house components.
DVD board line shows innovation
Kasan Electronics Co. Ltd is one of the front runners in the DVD board arena in Korea. Kasan claims it has developed the world's first direct six-channel DVD decoder, the Jammin DVDA 6ch. The product provides full compatibility with any graphics card and has an integrated single-chip DVD decoder. Also included is ASR technology to improve video quality.
According to Bok Joo You, assistant manager at the company's marketing department, it is easy to upgrade DVD products to incorporate evolving DVD standards. Other features of the Jammin DVDA 6ch include full remote control provided by an ergonomic remote unit and support for a display resolution of up to 720 by 576 dots while decoding MPEG audio streams.
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