DVD technology

Summary form only given. Starting in 1993 Toshiba made history introducing DVD technology to the industry. Toshiba provided leadership in building DVD alliance and cooperation with many companies in the developing unified DVD format and key enabling technologies. These companies included but are not limited to Time Warner, Matsushita, Pioneer, Dolby, Hitachi, Philips, Sony and many others. Key enabling technologies that make DVD work are: unified DVD format, 0.6 mm thick disk, phase change, MPEG2 video and AC-3 audio compression, DVD encoder and authoring equipment, multi-angle and multistory, double layer, 8:16 modulation, WORM disk, advanced RSPC error correction, commercial 650 nm laser, integrated MPEG2 and AC-3 decoders. Just as the Compact Disc (CD) provided a dramatic leap in quality over vinyl records, DVD provided a powerful shift in quality, interactivity and versatility when compared to traditional media including videocassette and laserdisc. DVD takes advantage of higher capacity discs which are physically the same size as today´s CDs but offer tremendous storage capacities-from 4.7 GB to 17 GB-to accommodate all types of data, audio and video. Both DVD-ROM drives and DVD players can read content of all four disc formats: single-sided, single layer 4.7 GB disc, the single sided, double-layer 8.5 GB disc; the double sided, single-layer 9.4 GB disc and the double-sided, double-layer 17 GB disc. DVD-ROM drives will read existing CD-ROMs and audio CDs