Transition From CD To DVD Made Easier

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

June 18, 1998 (12:00 AM EDT)

A barrier for moving to digital versatile disc (DVD) from CD as a data-storage medium has been removed as the Optical Storage Technology Association announced Wednesday that 31 drive manufacturers have requested applications for the use of the MultiRead specifications.

MultiRead -- an optical drive specification ratified by association members in July 1997 -- enables CD-audio, CD-ROM, CD-recordable, and CD-rewritable disks to be read on current and future CD and DVD devices.

The 31 vendors seeking applications for use of the MultiRead spec represent 98 percent of CD and DVD optical-drive shipments worldwide, according to the association.

Ray Freeman, president of Santa Barbara, Calif.-based analyst firm Freeman Associates and head of the association, said the adoption of MultiRead should help resellers enjoy healthy sales of CD products.

"Their customers can make the transition to DVD any time they want without worrying about whether they can move their data with them," he said.

This, Freeman said, will help keep CDs around for a little longer. Freeman said he previously estimated DVD would overtake the CD market in the year 2000, "but now I wouldn't be surprised if it [a healthy CD market] goes to 2001. CD will be the predominate technology in this decade, with DVD starting to take over in the next decade."

Thirteen companies have already been approved for the MultiRead license, including Actima Technology, Taipei, Taiwan; Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, Calif.; Hitachi America, Brisbane, Calif.; LG Electronics, San Jose, Calif.; Lite-on Technology, Taipei, Taiwan; Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics, Osaka, Japan; Mitsumi Electric, Tokyo, Japan; Philips Components, San Jose, Calif.; Pioneer New Media Technologies, Long Beach, Calif.; Ricoh, Yokohama, Japan; Samsung Electronics, Suwon, Korea; Sony Electronics, San Jose, Calif.; and TEAC, Montebello, Calif.