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Despite the growing popularity of digital downloads and flash-based storage, the demand for optical disc drives is on the rise. According to DigiTimes Research, Taiwanese manufacturers are expected to ship 21.9 million optical disc drives in the second quarter of 2010.
Taiwan-based makers will ship 21.9 million optical disc drives (ODDs) in the second quarter of 2010, increasing by 9% on quarter and by 29% on year, according to forecast by Digitimes Research.
Of the ODDs to be shipped in the second quarter, 54.4% will be slim-type models because of growing demand for notebooks, and DVD-RW (rewritable) models will have the largest shipment share, Digitimes Research indicated.
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Buffalo Japan recently announced its new portable, slot loading DVD writer, the DVSM-PS58U2/S-BK. While measuring a mere 137×142×20mm, this USB bus powered drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 6x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. The DVSM-PS58U2/S-BK also sports a piano black finish and comes bundled with CyberLink's DVD Suite.
The DVSM-PS58U2/S-BK is scheduled to ship in the middle of May and is expected to cost about 11,500 Yen ($122US).
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Renesas Electronics Corporation, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions, today announced the company's first blue-violet semiconductor laser diode with a wavelength of 405 nm and a new structure incorporating an optical waveguide into the semiconductor device, which enables high power output and excellent suitability for mass production.
The new blue-violet semiconductor laser diode, part number NV4A61MF, is ideal for Blu-ray disc recording and playback, and features a new inner-stripe structure in which the optical waveguide that substantially influences the quality of the laser diode is incorporated into the semiconductor. In this new structure, the optical waveguide is fabricated on a gallium nitride (GaN) substrate with approximately ten times improved accuracy and 20 percent increased heat dissipation compared to the conventional devices, in which the optical waveguide is formed on the surface of the laser chip. With this innovative structure, the new device provides the following features. (1) It offers high optical power output of 350 milliwatts (mW) suitable for 8x Blu-ray disc recording even at temperatures of up to 85°C; (2) The current and optical output characteristics provide excellent linearity from the low-output range through the high-temperature, high-output range. (3) It reduces laser noise (output fluctuation) that occurs during playback to less than one third of the company's existing devices, realizing 5 decibel per hertz (dB/Hz) improvement.
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The DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C) consisting of nine leading developers of DVD technology and formats --- Hitachi, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. --- today announced that it has terminated the DVD6C Patent License Agreement with INFODISC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (Taiwan) effective as of April 15, 2010.
The company, INFODISC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (Taiwan), failed to fulfill their material obligations of royalty reporting and/or royalty payment under the DVD6C Patent Licensing Agreement.
It is therefore cautioned that the sale, offering for sale, use, importation or other disposal of DVD products of this company may constitute infringement of patent rights in countries where essential patents of DVD6C members have been issued or registered.
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Sony Optiarc America today unveiled two new optical disc drives - the new portable, slim external DVD/CD recordable drive and the second generation half height internal 24X DVD/CD recordable drive.
The DRX-S77U drive boasts a sleek, lightweight design and continues to support up to 8X DVD+/-R recording speeds, delivering a full 4.7 GB disc of video, data, music or images on standard 8X DVD+/-R media. Additionally, the drive can record on 8.5 GB DVD+/-R Double/Dual layer and 4.7 GB DVD-RW discs at 6X speeds, DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-RAM at 5X and CD-R/RW at 24X. The drive comes in a retail package bundled with the Nero 9 DVD/CD mastering software suite and is compatible with Microsoft® Windows® 7. Connectivity is a snap with a Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) digital interface. The DRX-S77U is available in several popular color options to coordinate with many of the netbook color trends including black, white, pink and gold.
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Panasonic Solutions Company announced a new line of professional Blu-ray Disc™ media designed for secure digital data archiving in professional applications. The new recordable Blu-ray Disc™ (BD-R) will be available in two grades - Archival Grade and Century Archival Grade - with spindle packages in the 2nd and 3rd quarter respectively of this year.
Due to Panasonic’s advanced phase change recording technology, the Archival Grade discs have an expected archival life of more than 50 years at a room temperature of 77°F and a relative humidity of 80%. The high durability of Panasonic Blu-ray Disc™ has been verified by TÜV Rheinland, the world- famous quality and safety certification institution. All archival discs will be inspected and certified to keep the professional quality, ensuring further enhanced durability.
The Century Archival Grade model features a new recording layer structure that ensures longer shelf life. The disc’s recording layers are protected on both sides with newly-developed layers that are extremely close-grained to keep out external materials such as water and dust. The Century Archival Grade Disc has an estimated life of 100 years.
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Sony Optiarc America has released some details regarding its new slim external DVD writer, the DRX-S77U. This sleek and lightweight drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 6x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. The DRX-S77U does not appear to be USB powered. Hower, it comes bundled with Nero 9 and is available in a number of popular colors: black, white, pink and gold. No word yet on pricing or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know.
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NU Inc, the leading company in portable solution, has announced its latest external Blu-Ray writer, EBR240. It is the slimmest portable Blu-Ray writer with USB bus power support in the world together with a maximum recording and burning speed up to BD-R 6X and BD-RE 2X.
This new ultra-slim size Blu-Ray makes itself the best companion of laptop by offering at a weight only 380g with the dimensions of 155x141x18mm (WxHxD). It can be powered through an USB cable from the laptop instead of a traditional power adapter. This portability eliminates the trouble for power socket searching. Equipped with the latest Blu-Ray technology, EBR240 supports dual layer burning on storage and backup on BD or BD-RE disc and the capacity is five times compared to a dual layer DVD disc. In addition, the software supports recording and playback on DVDs and CDs
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The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced two new media specifications that use Blu-ray Disc technology to provide targeted functionality for commercial and consumer applications. The specifications for BDXL™ (High Capacity Recordable and Rewritable discs) and IH-BD (Intra-Hybrid discs) are expected in the next few months.
The BDXL specification, which is targeted primarily at commercial segments such as broadcasting, medical and document imaging enterprises with significant archiving needs, will provide customers with write-once options on 100GB and 128GB capacity discs and rewritable capability on 100GB discs. The discs reach these capacities by incorporating three to four recordable layers. A consumer version of BDXL is also expected, particularly in those regions where BD recorders have achieved broad consumer acceptance.
“Professional industries have expressed a desire to find optical disc solutions that enable them to transition away from magnetic media for their archiving needs,” said Victor Matsuda, Blu-ray Disc Association Global Promotions Committee chair. “Leveraging Blu-ray Disc to meet this need provides professional enterprises with a compact, stable and long term solution for archiving large amounts of sensitive data, video and graphic images using a proven and widely accepted optical technology.”
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Imation Corp. today announced it has partnered with ENCRYPTX Corporation to develop and market highly secure CD-R, DVD-R & Blu-ray optical media with EncryptDisc™ technology. Under the agreement, the companies have incorporated the ENCRYPTX EncryptDisc AES 256-bit encryption and burning technology into a line of secure, printable optical media products from Imation. Imation and ENCRYPTX have also announced that they have selected OEM partners Compass Medical, North Central Sight Services, and Rocky Mountain RAM to customize and supply the discs for certain government, medical and other regulated markets.
“As the global leader in optical media with more than 50 years experience helping commercial users and government agencies to store and protect their critical data, Imation is excited to announce this important product development and marketing relationship with ENCRYPTX,” said Keith Schwartz, director of strategic growth for Imation’s global commercial business. “EncryptDisc technology addresses the needs of government, business, and medical users who require a highly secure way to transport, share, and archive sensitive data on optical media. It is another important offering in Imation’s growing portfolio of secure storage products designed to help our customers more fully protect their critical storage assets and ensure compliance with increasingly stringent security and regulatory requirements.”
