“Microsoft has decided to support one of two competing formats for popular DVD recording technology [opposing Apple and the DVD writers found on Macs], a decision that is intended to make the storage devices as easy to use as current CD burners and floppy drives. At its annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), Microsoft plans to demonstrate software and to provide technical documentation for incorporating the DVD+RW format into its Windows operating system, according to a Microsoft Web site detailing the schedule for the conference.” Read the rest of the report at ZDNews.
Microsoft Chooses Sides in DVD War
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DVD+RW has error correction code and other aspects to its spec that DVD-RW does not have. Because DVD+RW is more robust, it is the better technology of the two for data storage. DVD-RW was originally designed for storing audio/video or for doing “test burns” and was not intended to become a real standard by the engineers who designed it. It just got pushed into that role because it was the only thing that was available at the time.
Too bad Apple chose to get behind the DVD-RW spec on its systems.
So whatever happened to DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM? Are those dead technologies?
I acquired a DVD-RAM drive for free and use it with Direct CD (just like a CD-RW) to back up my computer with. It’s great for this purpose, though I have no idea how it compares to the other technologies.
theheheh
I swore I would not buy into any DVD writing technologies until there was a standard. I don’t mean a collection of competing standards. That’s not a standard. That’s a pile of nonesense.
I’m glad I stuck with my choice. It’s only getting worse.
Not half as glad I don’t own a digital TV! :o))))
betamax
zip 100
jaz 1gb
shark
pd ( still mildly popular in japan)
magneto-optical drives ( pretty big in japan)
dvd-you-name-it
cd-r is going to last for some time.
Until somebody wins hold onto your cash.
And who knows we will probably be stuck with the lowly floppy until the year 2500.
By the time I can afford things like this, the format had to fight to survice its way to me. Sometimes, being poor has its benefits.
DVD-RAM is crap. It’s incompatible to “regular” DVD devices. I think it’s pretty slow, too.
If you use it only for your personal backups, they do quite fine, but don’t expect to be able to buy DVD-RAMs in the future.
DVD-ROM: Nothing will happen to DVD-ROM. DVD-ROMs are just the couterpart to CD-ROMs.
DVD-ROM will not die. DVD-R will also not die.
I hope Microsoft’s decision will finally clean up the market of rewriteable DVDs.
Didn’t you guys read the big test posted on slashdot and other sites? Only something like 30% of DVD PLAYERS can read DVD+RW compared to 90% that can read DVD-RW.
I’ll go with DVD-RW. Besides, I like Nero or Easy CD more than the built-in burning on Windows XP. That’s all we are really talking about.
DVD-RW is more compatable with set to boxes. DVD+RW is more compatable with computer dvd drives. DVD-RAM is incompatable with almost everything but is alot cheaper. Still depends on what you need.
anyone happen to remember FMD-ROM? Whatever happened to that technology?
therandthem:
The WindowsXP burning technology is licensed from Roxio… it is Easy CD.
FMD=Fluorescent Multilayer Disc
Made by Constellation 3D, they seem to have a real product; and SEEM to want to “fine-tune” it as much as possible before releasing it into the market.
There are two FMD discs. FMD-ROMs (ROM=Read Only Memory, for movies and the like), and FMD-WORMs (WORM=Write Once Read Many, likely to be used as personal storage by end users).
The discs can be manufactured with a number of layers, depending on the need, limited by current manufacturing technology, but expected to raise over time. The first batch of FMDs can have from 12 to 30 layers, that is from 20 to 100 gigabytes. (Although I am not clear how is the layer-to-gigabyte calculation carried out, and how will these numbers change from now until market release). Compare to DVD sizes. Webopedia reports an apparently incorrect total of 140Gb per FMD (for whatever reason).
From the start, FMD-ROMs can contain a full-length movie in HDTV quality.
The technology is going to be used for making “ClearCards”, too. They forecast values of up to 1 terabyte (1Tb==1024Gb); but to me IMNSHO that seems to be hype, i.e., not likely to happen anytime SOON, especially by comparing 2D area of a 5″ disc to small credit-card sized cards.
I didn’t spot transfer speeds; although I skimmed over the info. However, if it can play HDTV movies, it should be quite decent.
LINKS
1. Latest new release, March 2002, HDTV-FMD demo.
http://www.c-3d.net/press_frameset3.html
2. General FMD info.
http://www.c-3d.net/product_frameset.html
3. Constellation 3D home.
http://www.c-3d.net/
Why is it some people seam to think zip disks are dead? there great, just the right size, durable and small. My university is steadily getting all the computers to have zip drives. I don’t own a drive (do to lack of IDE’s and no money or want for a USB one) but own a zip disk for hopping around labs and having presentations on and such.
I have only seen their use being more widespread. DVD RW’s will be great for backing up HD’s but i don’t see people using them as zips and floppies get used. Having to have special software to burn something to a disk that is to easy to damage is just not convenient. If you have it on a floppy you know that basicly any OS will have a floppy support and there is no special software needed such as Roxio and such to save it to disk. I don’t see the floppy going anywheres. I have tons of them and use them all the time. Most things you put to disk arn’t bigger than a few K so the are fine. plus since everyone has a floppy aside from some mac users and people making a statement against them. People like teachers have a method of handing things in that anyone can do. and you have no fear of the teachers computer not being able to read it. Anyways, maybe the staying around of the floppy will cause a few programs to be kept under 1.4 meg.
I agree with those who want to see one unified standard and will hold off till this happens. Hopefully this happens sooner than later so the prices can drop like rocks as they did with cdrw
They should just support all three -RW, +RW and -RAM. Let them fight it out, and let’s see who reigns supreme. MS have billions of dollars, how much could it cost?
I just hop that the FMD players will be backwards compatable with DVDs. I mean, if FMDs are actualy that good, and they can hold HDTV video, I bet the movie studios would love that since they can charge more for this since it is higher quality….I know I would liove it.
the only problem is that if people can’t play their DVDs on them it won’t sell.
don’t you just love the way capitolism advances technology!!! DVD has been out for about 3 years and already a better technology is Coming out…..
ohhh yeah….one problem though, Americans like to holf onto their formats for a long time. I mean, look at the minidisk. it is better than cassette tapes, but no one buys them, even when they were pushing the format hard and were even trying to sell albums on minidisks no one bought them.
I think that the zip disk comment was mainly geared to zip 100, as opposed to zip 250 (which is the standard on most new computers). But that’s ok, the disks written by my 100 can be read in a 250 (all be it slower), so that is all that matters to me.
Minidiscs failed in the general populace because the units costed three times as much as comparable walkmans/discmans (five times as much if one wanted to record their own) and didn’t offer any advantage over the already existing cd format. Recordable-portable-indestructable-digital is certainly an advantage over cassette but those that spend the money for that kind of quality are also spending the money on microphones that will actuall take advantage of it, which is why the only place minidiscs took off was with the musician crowd…
unrelated: I’m curious as to the burn times encountered by users of the various dvdr formats – some have mentioned using them as backup drives but how has anyone actually become a daily user re: multimedia burning?
I don’t think so. Maybe it’s not thriving as much as the CD-R, but it’s overall a very succesful technology.
I do agree, though, that it’s most popular with the musicians. I think it’s most practical for quick and dirty digital recordings.Wife and I have lotsa fun recording our playing on our Minidisc player.
I think it’s a good thing.
The DVD format war has nothing to do technical issues. Basically if DVD+RW wins then one group of Japanese companies would get the majority of the licensing fee because they own the majority of the +RW patents. Likewise, if DVD-RW wins then a different group of Japanese companies would get the lion share of the licensing fee because they own the lion share of the -RW patents.