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Mar 07
Toshiba announced the introduction of the PA3530U-1HD1 external HD DVD combo
that reads HD DVD at 1X speed, and CD at 24x, writes DVD+RW, DVD-RW, and
DVD-RAM, USB 2.0.
Write speeds
DVD+R 4X
DVD+RW 4X
DVD-R 4X
DVD-RW 4X
CD-R 16X
CD-RW 10X
DVD+R DL 2.4X
DVD-R DL 2X
DVD-RAM 3X
Read speeds
HD DVD 1X speed (maximum)
DVD 8X speed (maximum)
CD-ROM 24X
Parts and Chips
Dec 06
Sharp Electronics announced their commercial production of blue laser diodes used
by both competing formats to read and write data on high-definition optical discs;
the current volume of 150,000 units a month is expected to be raised to 500,000
units by the end of 2007 with several billion yen of investment, using Sharp’s plant
in western Japan.
In Nov 06, according to EE Times, there are several manufacturers working with
multi-format components, as follows:
“Leading chip vendors such as Broadcom, STMicroelectronics and NEC Electronics
told EE Times they are developing ICs that allow high-definition optical drives and
players to comply with the two competing specifications.
Broadcom Corp. has already shipped the industry's first dual HD/BD decoder chip,
designed into the first-generation Toshiba HD-DVD player and into Samsung's Bluray
Disc player. Broadcom will also make its next-generation platform--a much
more highly integrated system-on-chip that is scheduled for announcement soon—
comply with both formats, while adding support for BD's latest profile.
ST is integrating the latest Blu-ray software changes into its STi7200 chip, originally
developed for the set-top market, along with support for the middleware required by
HD-DVD and Blu-ray. The chip will be in volume in 2007, Nurser said.
While both Broadcom and ST—for now—offer only the back-end decoder IC for nextgeneration
DVD players, NEC Electronics Corp. last month began sampling a frontend
processor chip set that can handle read/write operations for both HD-DVD and
Blu-ray Disc players.
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