DVD Forum agrees on standardization for DVD-R discs

Emedia Professional, Feb, 1998

The DVD Forum has completed standardization for the first generation of DVD-Recordable (DVD-R) discs. According to the group, the format is a write-once system that is compatible with DVD-Video and DVD-ROM formats. The format is expected to be most useful to developers and manufacturers who need to produce small quantities of discs for test marketing, promotional use, or private use.

Under the specifications for DVD-R version 1.0, each 12cm disc will hold 3.95GB of data per side. The group has also announced an 8cm version of the system, capable of holding 1.23GB per side. In contrast, DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs can hold 4.7GB on each side. Since April, when version 0.9 of the DVD-R specification was announced, a group of 20 hardware and storage media companies has been testing the system in the DVD-R Advisory Group. Despite having just finalized the version 1.0 specification, the DVD-R working group will begin working on the next-generation system, which is expected to match the 4.7GB per side capacity of pressed DVD. Also in the works for the next-generation system is a copyright protection system. The DVD Forum consists of companies that own patents related to the DVD system; members include Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mitsubishi Electric, Victor Company of Japan (JVC), Pioneer Electronics, Sony, Toshiba, Philips Electronics, Thomson Multimedia, and Time Warner.