New optical disc format underway

Royal Philips Electronics, one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, is co-developing the Blu-ray Disc as the next generation optical disc format.

The Blu-ray Disc is being developed in response to industry trends like high-definition TV (HDTV) and broadband Internet to provide convergence, interactivity and cross-platform compatibility.

It delivers the highest data rate of any consumer media and the highest recording density that allows for more than four hours of high-definition video to be stored onto one single-sided disc.

It provides a new, high-definition viewing experience with additional capacity to include extensive value-added content and interactive applica-tions using broadband Internet.

With the backing of Hewlett-Packard and Dell, Philips’ support underlines the true convergence between the consumer electronics and infor-mation technology industries.

In its initial phase, Philips is distributing basic specifica-tions for the Blu-ray Disc established and agreed upon by the 10-member Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF), of which Philips is included.

Philips will develop products that take full advantage of Blu-ray Disc’s large capacity and high-speed data transfer rate.

It will also aim to further enhance the appeal of Blu-ray Disc by developing a larger capacity, such as over 30GB on a single-sided single layer disc and over 50GB on a single-sided double layer disc.

Moreover, Philips is considering the adoption of the Blu-ray Disc in a variety of applications, including PC data storage and high-definition software.

The BDF is in the process of finalizing the complete format specifications portfolio. The BD-ROM (read-only) format, developed in collaboration with Hollywood studios and the IT industry, is expected to be available early this year, allowing for BD-ROM products to be available by end-2005.

The BD-R (write-once) format is expected to be finalized by mid-2004, and the BD-RE (rewritable) format, which is already available, will be further expanded to cover the additional requirements of related industries.