DVD in Tiawan. LSI makes inroads......................
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DVD - Technology Update
TAIWAN - Some R&D, main focus on system integration
Although patents and royalty issues are still bothering Taiwanese firms, most optical drive vendors have been developing or studying DVD technologies. However, the main focus of companies is on system integration.
Opto-Electronics & Systems Laboratories (OES) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a Taiwan-based non-profit R&D organization, has developed a 2-speed DVD-ROM drive and a DVD player. The mechanical parts, including the loader, are supplied by Sanyo, and the MPEG-2 ASIC is supplied by LSI Logic.
OES will make the technologies available to the private sector. Charles Chang, manager of the marketing department, said companies receiving the technologies will still need to purchase key components, like servo motors and ASICs from foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, government research units and the private sector have been trying to develop key components in order to set up a DVD manufacturing infrastructure in Taiwan.
DVD follows in success of CD-ROM
Most contacted firms agreed that Taiwan can succeed in DVD-ROM drive production by adapting the CD-ROM industry model. AOpen's Sean Chang, associate director of sales department I, of the company's optical product business division, pointed out that in the past two months, major Japanese optical drive vendors have been putting more effort into the development of DVD drives than CD-ROM drives, leaving a gap that can be filled by aggressive Taiwan CD-ROM drive vendors. "This may in turn affect Taiwan's progress in the DVD drive line," said Chang.
Lite-On's Andrew Lee, product manager, said Taiwan has a good chance of thriving in the DVD era. "Taiwan has a lot of experience and technological backup to help bring costs down. The CD-ROM industry has been a good example of this."
Cooperation on DVD disk, STB development
Most major optical disk manufacturers, including Ritek, CMC and BTC, have been working, either by themselves or with foreign partners, on rewritable DVD disks. OES and the private sector, which includes Acer, Tatung and ADI, have joined forces to develop digital set-top boxes that can decode DVD signals. AOpen has a dedicated team with five R&D engineers that have been working with partners to develop DVD products. Chang said design and manufacturing technologies need to be more precise for DVD products than those for CD-ROM drives.
DVD lab to cater for all formats
In order to meet increasing demand for DVD, OES, an A-class member of the DVD Forum, has formed a DVD verification laboratory with the help of Japan-based Matsushita. The laboratory will start testing DVD players, DVD-ROM disks and DVD-ROM drives by August this year, and DVD-RAM media and drives by the year 2000. OES will eventually support all DVD applications, including video, audio, ROM, RAM and recordable formats under the standard formats defined by the DVD Forum.
Research body develops key components
To set up a DVD manufacturing infrastructure, Taiwan has been active in developing key components for DVD. OES has been developing pickup heads for 4-speed DVD-ROM drives. Actima, a B-class member of the DVD Forum, also plans to get involved in developing pick-up heads. Winbond and ALI have provided DVD source decoder ICs.
AOpen will probably not develop pickup heads or ASICs, but the company plans to develop a mechanism, such as a loader, for DVD-ROM drives. The company developed a loader for its 2-speed DVD-ROM drive, though the drive did not enter production. The company will first use Japanese components for its 4-speed or faster DVD-ROM drives, and try to develop its own loaders when volumes increase to an adequate level, according to Chang. "We are not a key component vendor, so developing pickup heads or ICs makes little sense."
Lite-On plans to ship a 4-speed DVD-ROM drive by the end of the year. The drive will integrate key components from Japan-based vendors. The company has no plans to develop key components. Lee pointed out that the company's focus was not on technology, but on manufacturing scales and meeting market demand. "Japanese firms have developed excellent components that we can integrate into good drives."
Makers launch several DVD products
Several companies, including Acer and Esonic, a portable video CD player manufacturer and an A-class member of the DVD Forum, have launched DVD players.
Raite, a B-member of the DVD Forum, has started to ship a 2-speed DVD-ROM drive, and plans to deliver a DVD player that supports six stereo channels in August or September this year. The company co-developed both products with a design company from Japan and purchased the components from major Japan-based DVD component vendors.
Bill Chang, president, said the firm plans to launch evaluation samples of a 4-speed DVD-ROM drive by September which will be ready for production in October 1998. Chang predicted that 4-speed DVD-ROM drives will boom in the third or fourth quarter this year. The firm also plans to release a slim DVD-ROM drive by the end of the year.
4.7G DVD version 2.0 may face delays
The DVD Forum plans to finalize specifications for the single-sided 4.7G DVD version 2.0 in October 1998. However, most contacted firms thought that the schedule might slip until some time next year.
AOpen has started to sell a SCSI-interfaced DVD-RAM drive that is made in Japan. The drive will be delivered with several DVD-RAM disks and a SCSI controller card. The company will be developing DVD-RAM drives complying with 2.0 specifications when available. Chang said the market for these drives will start to boom by the second half of 1999.
Lite-On has no immediate plans for DVD-RAM drives because of the lack of a standard and because the market is still immature.
Raite will develop a DVD-RAM 2.0-compliant drive after the standard is finalized. Chang said the most difficult part of the development will be the rewritable technologies. "How to develop the drives to provide good reliability and quality is the key factor."
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