DVD INSIGHTS.............................................
ijumpstart.com
By TOM O'REILLY
Amidst Bickering, DVD Forum Drives On
The DVD Forum may be a little battered and bruised due to recent infighting between member companies, but that hasn't stopped the organization from continuing its mission to define the various DVD technical specifications.
The DVD Forum originally consisted of 10 companies - Toshiba, Time Warner [TWX], Philips, Pioneer, Matsushita, Thomson, Sony, Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Victor. The DVD Forum's main purpose was to define the technical specifications for the five types of DVD media-DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio, DVD-R and DVD-RAM- and it never intended to become a marketing organization. The organization changed its name to the DVD Forum last spring and announced it planned to include more companies in the group in an effort to be "a more open organization."
Things have never been completely smooth within the organization-with 10 companies that compete against each other, some problems would be expected-but things seem to have taken an uglier turn over the last few months.
First, Sony and Philips announced it would support its own recordable DVD format that will compete with the DVD Forum's spec. Then the Circuit City-backed Divx, supported by Matsushita, Thomson and others, rose to compete against DVD-Video. And in that spirit, it seems as though some companies will form a competing standard to the DVD-Audio specification expected in December.
So, is the DVD Forum beginning to fade just as its members jostle for industry position? Or are things running more smoothly than they appear on the surface?
Recent industry posturing "[fueled] speculation that there is a big rift, but I think that is completely wrong," said Andy Parsons, VP, Engineering Support, Pioneer New Media Technologies. Parsons said some of the issues, particularly recordable DVD, have been blown out of proportion by the media. "They will [soon] have done the five things they said they were going to do," said industry consultant Geoff Tully. But he adds that management of the specifications-such as issuing the specification books -will continue for some time. "Somebody needs to do it," Tully added. "They seem to be reluctant to hand it off. "The Forum is still there, still doing a lot of work in behind-the-scenes meetings," he said.
Tom O'Reilly is a contributing columnist to Multimedia Monitor and editor of DVD Report, a sister publication belonging to Phillips Business Information.
Cinram/DMI Ready For DVD-9, DVD-10 Production
Cinram/DMI will start DVD-9 and DVD-10 production at its Anaheim, Calif., plant next year, according to Rusty Capers, executive vice president of sales and marketing.
While Capers would not divulge current capacity, Cinram/DMI has already produced hundreds-of-thousands of DVD discs, the majority of which have been DVD-Video. (Cinram, Rusty Capers, 302/479-2500)
DVD Forum Seems Unconcerned Over Divx
Divx, the recently announced format that will compete with DVD-Video beginning next year, was quickly dismissed by speakers and delegates alike attending the DVD Forum. There are no signs of a Divx migration to Europe, and even if there were, it does not seem to concern the group.
Even in the U.S., consumer awareness of "splinter formats" such as Divx and competing forms of recordable DVD is nominal, based on a survey of 32 major U.S. consumer electronics retailers conducted by market research firm InfoTech. Only about 14 percent of customers were aware of Divx, and about 7 percent familiar with competing forms of recordable DVD, according to the survey. By comparison, more than three-quarters were aware of HDTV.
DVD-ROM Replicators Upbeat on Business
Delays in the launch of DVD-ROM have affected many replicators, particularly those who plan to focus on that segment of the industry, such as Metatec and Imation. Despite the delays, there is still a lot of optimism for DVD-ROM replication.
"It's been a little bit of a delay," admitted Chris Winslow, Metatec vice president of manufacturing. Most replicators DVD Report spoke with agreed with Winslow's assessment that the DVD-ROM business "will grow dramatically in 1998."
Winslow expects the professional publishing market (for example, the reference, legal, medical and financial markets) to embrace DVD-ROM first, followed by the consumer market.
Production of DVD-9 (single-side, dual layer) is also a key issue for replicators. The advantage of DVD-9 over DVD-10 (dual-side, single layer) is that consumers would not have to flip the disc over. Demand for DVD-9 is not there yet, according to most replicators -only Warner Advanced Media Operations (WAMO) and Panasonic Disc Services currently offer DVD-9.
"There are just not enough titles to be concerned with the DVD-9 process as of yet," said Jim Lance, Pioneer Video manufacturing president. Nimbus Manufacturing, for example, has only one customer that is pushing for DVD-9 right now, said Dave Trudel, executive vice president, North America operations. Most of the remaining replicators do plan to offer DVD-9 in 1998, however.
Bonding, particularly which bonding method to use, has also been a critical decision for replicators. IPC Software, for example, chose UV radical curing from five choices.
Americ Disc Begins DVD Production
Full production of DVD discs in U.S. plants is reaching full steam. Americ Disc began replicating DVDs at its plant in Modesto, Calif., on Oct. 1.
Capacity there is 5,000/day. Capacity at its Drummondville, France plant is 10,000 DVDs/day. DVD-10s are being replicated by Americ Disc, but production was held up initially because bonding equipment is difficult to get, according to Pierre Deschenes, Americ's president. So far, all product produced has been DVD-Video. (Pierre Deschenes, 888-545-7350)
Notebook DVD Design From LSI Logic
LSI Logic Corp. [LSI] will make available a DVD reference design for OEM notebook manufacturers in early 1998.
The design supports the PC Card interface and the advanced video port interface found in the PC '98 spec.
Priced at $995, the reference design is based on LSI's single-chip L64020 DVD decoder and includes detailed schematics, documentation and drivers. (LSI Logic Corp., 1551 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, Calif. 95035-7424, 408/433-8000)
Sharp to Ship DVD Player in Japan
Sharp Electronics will ship a DVD-Video player in Japan by year's end and will export a version to the United States, China and Singapore in spring 1998. The U.S. model will be 11 inches wide and is expected to cost $650 to $850.
Korean manufacturers Samsung Electronics Inc. and LG Electronics expect to release 2X DVD-ROM drives in that region by year's end. Sony Corp. expects to ship a DVD-RW drive in Japan in early 1998.
Matsushita Electric Industrial showed a portable DVD-Video prototype at the Japan Electronics Show earlier last month. The unit combines a 5.8-inch wide-screen LCD that folds up and a DVD player, making the unit slightly larger than the size of a DVD disc. (Samsung, 105 Challenger Rd., Ridgefield Park, N.J. 07660-0511, 201/229-4024)
Toshiba Preps Portable DVD Player
Toshiba Corp. will begin selling the first compact DVD-Video player in Japan Nov. 16. The company will ship two models priced at $620 each. Model SD-P410 will weigh slightly more than 2.5 pounds and be the size of a PlayStation game console.
The SD 2100 weighs 7 pounds and is about 15 inches wide. Toshiba is targeting sales of 10,000 units a month for the SD-P410 and 3,000 units a month for the SD 2100. (Toshiba Corp., 81/334-572-473)
Disney Announces Upcoming DVD Titles
Disney [DIS], the newest entrant into the DVD market, plans to release eight movies simultaneously on DVD and VHS Dec. 2 to capitalize on the Christmas rush.
The first set of releases will be: George of the Jungle; Ransom; The Rock; Tombstone; Scream; Phenomenon; The Nightmare Before Christmas; and Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.
The DVD titles, which will be priced at $29.99 (VHS titles will carry a $22.99 price tag), will feature Dolby Digital or Dolby Surround Sound, multiple language, subtitles and search functions.
Warner Now Churning All DVD Formats
Warner Advanced Media Operations said it is now producing all formats - DVD-5, DVD-9 and DVD-10 - at its Olyphant, Pa., plant.
With about 250 employees working on DVD, the plant capacity will be 2 million discs/year by first quarter 1998, according to Gregg Johnson, preproduction engineer. WAMO has already produced over 3 million discs, 80 percent of which have been DVD-Video. (WAMO, Kris Killiany, 717/383-3291, ext. 3444)
Industry Seeks Benchmark Test for DVD-Video
Executives with C-Cube Microsystems Inc. [CUBE] and a few other companies are seeking the expertise of an impartial third party to determine benchmarks for DVD video quality.
The goal is to give manufacturers an objective measurement of DVD video quality, which they can highlight on their product boxes to indicate they have met certain requirements. In addition, a quantitative benchmark would help spell out for consumers the different levels of DVD quality and price available.
"If there is no real measurement of quality, consumers might be shortchanged," said Clint Chao, C-Cube's director of marketing. "Someone might see a weak version that offers 10 frames per second and think that's DVD."
Chao is hopeful that a DVD Video gatekeeper of sorts will motivate PC companies to have their products tested.
"The PC guys want to get as many logos as possible on their boxes," Chao said.
Zoran Corp. [ZRAN] has an informal internal testing program and "would welcome and participate in an industry wide effort." (C-Cube, 408/944-6300)
Philips Misjudges Market For MPEG-2 Audio
Philips Electronics has admitted it misjudged the market on MPEG-2 audio (multichannel).
"We have had audio encoders available for some time," said Philips Key Modules' Koos Middeljans. "However, we, from the start at Philips, concentrated on VBR for audio, but the customers asked for 384KB/second fixed rate encoding, and in real time. A few weeks ago, we validated our [384 MPEG], so now we have a fixed-rate encoder online."
It may be too little, too late. No one DVD Report spoke with had heard of any MPEG-2 fixed rate multichannel audio and were skeptical that it could compete with Dolby.
The problem was that MPEG-2 VBR multichannel demanded approximately double the Dolby Digital bit-rate for stereo downmix compatibility. Without compatibility, the bit rate was perfectly acceptable, but who would launch a disc that did not play in stereo?
Multichannel audio wars are a thorn in the side of European encoders and disc producers, many of which are uncertain which standard to advise their clients to adopt.
It'll be a big disappointment for Philips if MPEG-2 multichannel does not gain wide acceptance-Philips' intellectual property rights on CDs expire next year and it needs DVD to fill the gap-but the signs are bleak as UK manufacturers are already gearing up for Dolby Digital. |
