NEC Corp. recently announced development of technology capable of recording and playing back both current DVD formats as well as next-generation formats, including HD DVD, or the High Definition and High Density DVD. The drive features a single optical head, the company said.
The company said in a statement that its HD DVD device offers a single optical head that is the same size as current DVDs but which achieves 4 times the storage capacity of current DVDs. It is expected that this will enable smooth transition from current DVDs to HD DVDs.
NEC said its compatible head technology was developed by using two lasers, a blue laser diode and a red laser diode, as the light source, thus enabling both current DVD and HD DVD discs to be played on a single objective lens.
In addition, the statement said the drive technology was enabled by the “realization of system operation by overcoming the physical format difference between DVD and HD DVD with functional compatibility by developing large scale LSI; on-going development of playback signal processing technology; and realization of system operation by utilizing current DVD drive system functions.”
Read the full press release here.