CeBIT: NEC Burns HD-DVDs

HANOVER, GERMANY -- NEC is demonstrating at the CeBIT trade show here this week a recently developed optical disc drive that can write to HD-DVD media.

HD-DVD is a new disc format that uses blue lasers to achieve a storage capacity of about three times that of DVD. A single-sided HD-DVD can accommodate 15GB of data, compared to 4.7GB on a DVD. It's one of two soon-to-be-launched formats that uses blue lasers. The second, Blu-ray Disc, can store 25GB on a single-sided disc but requires a more complex drive mechanism because the disc's physical structure is different than that of DVD and CD.

NEC is demonstrating its HD-DVD drive with media from Mitsubishi Kagaku Media, which is best known by its Verbatim brand name. The company is shooting high-definition video each morning at the show and burning it onto a disc for playback during the day, said Ryoichi Hayatsu, an NEC storage product division manager, in an interview.

The blank media, which became available only days before CeBIT began, is single-sided. NEC's drive, the HD-1100, is also compatible with dual-layer discs, which can store 30GB. In addition, the drive can write to DVD and CD media.

NEC is also working on support for rewritable HD-DVD media, although the HD-DVD Rewritable specification has yet to be completed. That's expected to be finalized in May or June this year, said Hayatsu.

Also on Display

Toshiba is also showing off its first HD-DVD products at CeBIT. For example, the Qosmio G30 laptop, was launched at the show and is the first laptop to include an HD-DVD drive.

Qosmio is Toshiba's multimedia line, and the G30 includes a TV tuner and Dolby Home Theater support. Users can watch HD-DVD content on the laptop's screen or output it to a compatible high-definition monitor or television. The G30 will be available in April in major markets and will cost around $2410.

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