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To: Bill DeMarco who wrote (26331)	12/8/1997 4:14:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

DVD recordables.................................... twice.virtualmarketing.com Rewritable DVD Format War Begins - -December 8, 1997 By Greg Tarr With four camps trumpeting different approaches to rewritable DVD, the recent Fall Comdex became the first open battleground for the industry's latest format war. Among formats announced to date are: DVD-RAM, which is championed by Matsushita's Panasonic and approved by the industry's DVD Forum; DVD+RW, which is endorsed by Sony and Philips; the DVD-R/W format proposed by Pioneer; and the DVD MultiMedia Video File Format (MMVFF) proposed by NEC. What became clearer at the show was that a major concern of three of the four competing camps was maintaining compatibility with some existing specific CD or DVD format, at least in the first generation of rewritable DVD systems. Executives from each of the various camps also expressed a common hope that the industry would eventually rally around a single standard for re-recordable DVDs with enough capacity for two hours of MPEG 2 full-motion video for home A/V applications. From a compatibility standpoint, the DVD-RAM format trumpeted by Panasonic during the days leading up to Comdex (TWICE, November 3, p.1) will play CD-PD and most other CD format discs. Sony and Philips said they see DVD+RW as a "natural extension" of the CD-RW format, and in Pioneer's DVD-RW system, compatibility with DVD-R is considered critical to its niche of potential customers. Members of the DVD+RW camp wasted little time at Comdex, staging a press conference to highlight their format and responding to Panasonic's DVD-RAM announcement. Representatives from each of the supporting companies -- Sony, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Ricoh and Yamaha -- said the first DVD+RW drives are scheduled for sample shipments in mid-1998, with retail shipments planned for the third quarter. Pricing was not available. DVD+RW is seen as a data storage format, and not as an audio/video recording format in its present state. The specifications call for a 3GB per side disc that does not require a caddy. It will play back most CD formats including, DVD-Movie, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, and CD Audio. The DVD-RAM format that is supported by Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba, and has the backing of eight of the 10 original DVD Forum members, features single and dual-sided discs with 2.6GB per side, both of which require a caddy. The format's strength is said to be its random access characteristics and backward compatibility with discs using most of today's CD and DVD formats, including Matsushita's CD-PD. Panasonic said it will deliver drives in January at a street price of about $799. Toshiba and Hitachi will join Panasonic in marketing DVD-RAM systems in the same general price range, and Creative Labs showed a prototype DVD-RAM kit for aftermarket sales. Blank DVD-RAM media is sold in single-sided ($24.95) and dual-sided ($39.95) configurations. Both will require a caddy, although caddies for the single-sided discs are removable, allowing the bare disc to be played in future versions of DVD-ROM and DVD Video players. Members of the DVD-RAM camp see their format as a data storage device first, but Panasonic has also made it clear that the specifications will serve as a platform for audio and video recording systems coming in the next five years, when greater storage capacities can be realized from new technologies such as blue laser, and when MPEG-2 encoded chips are more economically manufactured. Pioneer's DVD-R/W system claims to offer a caddy-less disc with 3.95GB per side storage capacity, better error correction than DVD+RW or DVD-RAM, and full DVD-R compatibility. The first drives and discs will be ready for market in early 1998, but at an initial price of $17,000 per drive and $50 per blank disc, the target audience is commercial and institutional accounts where large amounts of storage capacity are required for archiving. Pioneer also sees applications as a test disc system for manufacturers of DVD movie discs. The company said it has a built-in market of DVD-R users to whom compatibility is critical and worth the additional cost. Pioneer's system will play on existing DVD-Video and DVD-ROM drives. In contrast, single-sided DVD-RAM discs are not compatible with existing devices, and DVD+RW discs will only play on current DVD-ROM devices after modifications have been made. NEC, meanwhile, has also announced its intention to market late next year its Multi Media Video File Format (MMVFF), which promises a 5.2GB per side storage capacity. The company also recently joined the DVD Forum's technical working group and is participating with other companies in developing an industry standard for future-generation products.