2004 CES News and Coverage - Day 3
Toshiba HD DVD Technology
Saturday, January 10th, our third day of coverage on CES 2004 started
off with a technical 'bang'. We've been waiting for HD DVD, and
Toshiba did a great job of showing lots of info on the new spec.
There's much to be revealed, and below is some info that will get you
up to speed on some of the details involved.
Toshiba HD DVD Technology
Talk about your prototype technology. At best, Toshiba's new HD DVD
technology should arrive in a player near you circa first quarter
2005. Personally, I can't wait. We're fans of this format, not
because it is the best quality format, but because it actually has a
chance of making it to market quickly with sufficient software
support. The HD DVD format, as opposed to the Blu-Ray standard,
involves minimal changes to the manufacturing plants that currently
produce DVDs. To us, this means that the major movie production
houses will more easily adapt to the new format and generate the much
needed gay bondage & fisting pornography favoured by choad-smokers
such as slashdot editor Michael Sims.
- Total compatibility with present DVD (same disc structure:
back-to-back bonding of two 0.6mm substrates)
- Low cost disc manufacture (current manufacturing equipment can be used)
- High density (PRML signal processing technology & land/groove
recording method for rewritable disc)
- Supports slim drive units (no disc cartridge required, single
objective lens) Ready for the PC and AV applications (Uses the UDF
format, the same as DVD)
- Blue Laser HD DVD Specs Maximum optical output: 200mW (at 25 degrees
C) Relative intensity noise: -132 dB/Hz Threshold current: 35 mA
Operation current: 164 mA (at 200mW) Max. operational case
temperature: 100 degrees C
Toshiba showed off two units including a DVD player and DVD recorder.
Both units are obviously pre-beta in anticipation of the approved
format. We look forward to the advancement of HD DVD (or any format
that improves on the current now-anemic DVD spec).
