The DVD Forum has approved the physical disc specifications for the rewritable version of HD-DVDs (High Definition/High Density-DVDs), taking the format an important step nearer to mass production. At a meeting in Taiwan on September 22, the association approved version 1.0 of the HD-DVD-RW physical specification, which covers a single-layer disc with a capacity of 20GB, Junko Furuta, a Toshiba spokesperson says.
Version 1.0 is the key specification that allows manufacturers to consider mass production of a product involving new technologies. The association also approved version 0.9 physical specifications for the HD-DVD-R (recordable) disc at the same meeting. The HD-DVD-R discs will be single-layer 15GB capacity discs, Furuta says. Version 1.0 is expected to be approved by the association in February 2005, Yoshihide Fujii, president and CEO of Toshiba Digital Media Network Company, said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. The organization approved version 1.0 of the physical specifications for HD-DVD-ROM discs in June this year. HD-DVD-ROMs will be single-layer, 15GB discs or dual-layer, 30GB discs.