Is DVD±RW DL going to be dead on arrival?

May 11, 2005

Whilst we wait patiently for the decision on blu-ray to be made, the venerable DVD is still being developed. As we reported a while back, JVC has added a new format to the mix of recording formats with the addition of the re-writable, minus, dual layer disc. We also heard that a (surprise) plus disc was in the works as well. Someone over at EMedia says enough is enough and wonders how useful this can be.

The most obvious hang-up for rewritable DL is that it's incompatible with the installed base of devices. This is due to optical signal levels lower than prerecorded media that will require hardware and firmware to be adjusted to accommodate the differences. Analogous to CD-RW's introduction in 1996, neither existing DVD recorders nor DVD players will be able to write or read rewritable DLs.

History repeatedly teaches that such incompatibilities bring only customer confusion. To introduce more chaos into a market as mature and punch-drunk as DVD is beyond understanding. Inevitably, the industry's answer will be simply to concoct a couple of "RW DL Compatible" logos to slap on future drive nameplates and let the chips fall where they may.

What happens when DVD-RW DL and DVD+RW DL formats inevitably come to market at different times? Are we to endure yet another wave of devices working with one disc type but not both? Where does it end? Is DVD-RAM DL in the cards?