Even if you build it (big 'if'), will they come?

Article Abstract:

Consumer electronics manufacturers have been promoting digital video disk and Internet-enabled digital televisions as revolutionary innovations in popular entertainment. The technology is in place, but the best design for related consumer products, and the market demand for them, has yet to be demonstrated. Television and computer manufacturers are eager to integrate their products, thus creating a new genre, but the ways in which consumers use the two products, and their styles of content delivery, are quite different. Television is primarily visual, while the Web provides much textual information. Digital video disks makers, after much negotiation with Hollywood over digital encoding, are launching a range of products, but prices are steep and quality is on par with that of laser disks, which have met with tepid consumer response. Industry watchers speculate that it will be several years before digital video disks are recordable, a major selling point for VCRs.

Electronic computers, Planning, Network computers, Network computer, Information appliances, Consumer electronics industry, Digital video disk, DVDs (Digital videodisks)

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After the video treaty, peace and (slow) process

Article Abstract:

The Sony-Philips and Time-Warner factions agree that the 4.7-in digital video disk will use high density as its basic technology, but all sides concede that the video disk will gain market share slowly. The video disks store 4.7 billion bytes of data, in comparison with the 680 million bytes on a standard music CD, and can handle digital, audio and video data types. Video manufacturers can chose to record data on two sides of a disk or to layer two levels of data on a single side; the players will read either format, as well as the current music CDs. The players will be available in late 1996, and 250 to 400 movie titles should be available at the same time. Picture quality will be markedly superior to that found on VHS, but developers note that the inability to record on digital video disks will slow their acceptance. By the year 2000, only 10% of the 200 million disk players forecast to be sold will be for high-density, digital video.

Equipment and supplies, Industry trend, Compact discs, Digital video, Market Entry, Industry Trend Or Event

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Movies in gigabytes: the video disk age is (almost) dawning

Article Abstract:

The digital video disk is coming soon to a CD-ROM near you, maybe. Two major alliances are pursuing competing video disk technologies, hoping to gain the edge in developing disks the size of CDs that hold gigabytes of data. Toshiba and Time Warner offer 10GB of storage on a dual-sided disk comprised of two disks glued back to back, each side individually recorded. Sony and Philips advocate a double layer disk, in which a traditional disk is overlaid by a semi-reflective layer of aluminum. The aluminum will be pitted, which will force the laser to refocus to read the lower layer as well. Matsushita also touts a two-sided disk that consists of two single-sided disks glued one on top of the other with a transparent glue that the laser penetrates to read the second layer. Rumors are rampant that Toshiba Time Warner and Sony Philips will unite to pursue a single technology.

On-Line Information Services, Database Vendors, Information retrieval services, Product development, Toshiba Corp., Database industry, Time Warner Inc., Technology development, Computer peripherals industry, TWX, Sony Corp., CD-ROM databases, Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken N.V., Entertainment Hobby Software, Technology Information

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