RWPPI's Round Robin Test increases customer satisfaction
for DVD-R/DVD-RW products.
Hanover, 9 March 2003: Why do customers choose DVD-R and DVD-RW? Many companies have released recordable DVD devices, featuring multiple recording formats. And DVD-R and DVD-RW are always there, leading to recognize that they are the de facto standards in recordable DVD worldwide. This is further confirmed by the strong demand for the latest products, which are compatible with the new 4x speed recordable DVD-R and 2x speed rewritable DVD-RW.
The three great features of DVD-R and DVD-RW are "compatibility", "convenience" and "reliability".
The DVD Forum has set worldwide technical standards for DVD formats, including DVD-R and DVD-RW. The DVD-R and DVD-RW, specifically developed with the concept to keep in consistence with the DVD-ROM, a format used for PC discs and DVD-Video discs, enjoy playback compatibility amongst DVD playback devices and meet the need of users. The DVD Forum is currently pursuing more convenience for users by developing faster recording speed technology than the current 4x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW, in addition to the promotion of user-friendly VR (Video Recording) format, which has many advanced editing features. Furthermore, copyright protection technologies, such as CPRM (Copy Protection System for Recordable Media), have been embedded in DVD-RW to honor copyright holders.
DVD-R and DVD-RW are, therefore, reliable recordable and rewritable DVD formats, which meet users' needs now and in the future.
RWPPI (RW Products Promotion Initiative: http://www.rwppi.com) was established in May 2000, for the purpose of promoting DVD-R and DVD-RW-related products worldwide, and currently consists of 52 member companies.
RWPPI recently conducted an effective promotion at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA, in January 2003, ahead of the CeBIT in Hanover.
Mr. Koki Aizawa, who recently succeeded the late Dr. Masao Sugimoto as Representative Director of RWPPI, made the following address on RWPPI's activities at the CeBIT press conference on 11th March 2003.
"The RWPPI is an industry alliance, trying to maximize the benefits of users through various activities aiming at enhancing the sound growth of products and its applications that support the DVD-R and DVD-RW formats.
"One of our most effective activities is called the Round Robin Test, where member companies check recording compatibility with each other's products, and verify playback compatibility with playback-only DVD drives and players, the primary advantage of the DVD-R and DVD-RW formats. There are four working groups, conducting the Round Robin Test. They are, Physical Format W.G., Logical Format (Writer) W.G., Logical Format (Recorder) W.G., and Playback Compatibility W.G We are proud that this activity is at the forefront of the industry.
"Stage 1 of the Round Robin Test successfully completed last year. It focused on recording compatibility at the normal, 1X speed. As a result, member companies were able to resolve various compatibility issues within their products before they are released to the market. You can download a report of the Stage 1 test results from our RWPPI website. In Stage 2, which began in December last year, 30 member companies have been checking compatibility at high-speed recording.
I believe the Round Robin Test benefits member companies' product designs and help increase the satisfaction of their users."
RWPPI also established a "Recommended Reference" for the products relating to DVD-R and DVD-RW. Because an increasing number of manufacturers are entering the expanding DVD market, the "Recommended Reference" is targeted on labeling and technical guidelines for the products. The following three items are currently established in the "Recommended Reference":
| (1) |
"Standard recording time of 2 hours" for both discs and the hardware. |
| (2) |
"RW Compatible" labeling to denote playback compatibility of discs recorded in VR (Video Recording ) format, and |
| (3) |
"Track Starting Address", which defines the media track starting address and was determined based on the results of the Round Robin Test, Stage 1. |
In order to increase industry recognition of the "Recommended Reference", RWPPI makes this information available through its website.
Mr. Jean-Paul Eekhout, Senior Marketing Manager of TDK Electronics Europe, GmbH, explained TDK's future strategy for DVD-R and DVD-RW:
"Whilst DVD-R has currently realized a 4x recording speed and DVD-RW has realized a 2x recording speed, in order to meet the needs of users, TDK has been engaged in the development of media capable of 8x recording speed for DVD-R and 4x recording speed for DVD-RW.
"The scratch resistance of the disc surface has also been improved 100 times compared with conventional products, and we have developed and marketed the "Scratch Proof" series of DVD-R and DVD-RW discs that are 10 times more resistant to fingerprints than current discs. TDK will highlight the appeal of "Scratch Proof" and "high speed" recording technology as a major way of differentiating our products in the marketplace."
Mr. Toshihiro Tanikawa, Chairman of Mt. Fuji Group, described DVD-RW defect management system for PC application software, as follows:
"I'm very proud of the 'Distributed Real-time Defect Management (DRT-DM)' system which I believe is a very innovative defect management system. It can eliminate problems on playback compatibility of discs burned by PC with DVD players, using different defect management (DM) system. It also solves problems in relation to real-time streaming recording/playback.
"Mt. Fuji Group is a voluntary organization of 48 companies, consisting of DVD-related product manufacturers, OS vendors, PC manufacturers and application software manufacturers, that establishes world standards for the PC command set. In the future, I believe the DRT-DM standard for DVD-RW will be adopted by all drive manufacturers worldwide."
RWPPI currently boasts 52 member companies, a significant increase from the original 12 members. The organization is based in Tokyo with liaison offices in Europe and North America. Members include manufacturers of DVD recorders, computer writers, DVD players, DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, key components and devices, and PC application software. Following is the current list of members, in alphabetical order.
Almedio Inc., Alpine Electronics Inc., AMC Co., Ltd., Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd., CMC Magnetics Corporation, CyberLink Inc., Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd., DENON, Ltd., Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Microdevices Co., Ltd., Funai Electric Co., Ltd., Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., InterVideo Japan Inc., Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Kenwood Corporation, Lead Data Inc., LG Electronics Inc., Marantz Japan, Inc., MediaTek Inc., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., MJC (Singapore) Pte Ltd., Moser Baer India Ltd., NEC Corporation, Oak Technology, K.K., Onkyo Corporation, Optodisc Technology Corporation, Orion Electric Co., Ltd., Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer Video Corporation, Plannet Associate Co., Ltd., Prodisc Technology Inc., Ritek Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., SKC Co., Ltd., Sonic Solutions, Sony Corporation, Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., TDK Corporation, TEAC Corporation, Texas Instruments Japan Limited, Thomson Multimedia Inc., Toshiba Corporation Digital Network Company Storage Device Division, Ulead Systems Inc., Unitech Japan Inc., Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC Media Co.), Yamaha Corporation, and Zoran Corporation.
For further information, e-mail to: info@rwppi.com
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