The working group WG-11, under the Technical Coordination Group (TCG) of the DVD Forum recently visited leading manufacturers of DVD drives and discs in Taiwan, with the goal of winning their support for HD-DVD, a next-generation DVD format promoted by Toshiba and NEC, according to the Taiwanese makers.
There are currently two next-generation DVD formats vying to set the industry standard - HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc, which is supported by Sony, Pioneer, Samsung, Matsushita Electric, Philips and Microsoft.
Blu-ray Disc seems to have gained an upper hand for the time being, with Sony launching a Blu-ray DVD player late last year, and with Philips and Matsushita (Panasonic) planning to follow suit in the third quarter this year. However, HD-DVD has won support from the DVD Forum.
Taiwanese makers of DVD drives and discs have no preference, and will make their final decision based on market demand, they pointed out. Based on the current market situation, the next-generation DVD drives/disc market may take 3-5 years to mature, they added.
DVD Forum website:
dvdforum.org.
Story Source:
digitimes.com.
