NEC steals a march with all-in-one drive
NEC steals a march with all-in-one drive
Dec 22, 2004: NEC Corporation has completed the development of a storage device that is capable of playing back HD DVDs, DVDs, and CDs with a single optical head, enabling creation of the world's first half height size drive suitable for desktop computer installation.
This compatible head technology was developed by using three lasers, the blue, red and infrared laser diodes, as the light source, thus enabling optimal reading of each disc through the optical head using a single objective lens.
The development of drive firmware technology, system LSI technology and HD DVD/DVD/CD-compatible optical head technology has enabled NEC to create a compact HD DVD drive that can be easily incorporated into PCs.
It is anticipated that the need for recording and playing back high-definition digital contents on optical discs in the home and on personal computers will continue to grow.
NEC and Toshiba have proposed the "HD DVD" format, which has blue LDs as its light source, to the DVD Forum, based on the concept that compatibility with present DVD discs, which has spread rapidly, is of great importance for the spread of next-generation optical discs capable of recording and playing back high-definition video. HD DVD disks have around four times the capacity of standard DVDs.
HD DVD employs blue LDs with shorter than conventional wavelength as its light source to enable higher recording density. In order to realise compatibility with current discs, such as CDs and DVDs, a large number of parts are required resulting in a large-sized drive. To date this has been one of the major challenges to overcome.
NEC's new development, which it will exhibit at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January, has overcome this hurdle.
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