The 40th RWPPI General Meeting was held on (2006/12/06) at the Sharp Corporation in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture.

The meeting started off with the speech by the Representative, Mr. Aizawa who said: "By shifting our RWPPI activities concentrating on the DVD-RW/R compatibility tests (Round Robin Tests), we have successfully and appealingly achieved worldwide recognition of reliable and high quality products using these DVD recording formats."
In continuation, the Vice Representative, Mr. Chiba (of Sharp Corporation) said, "Business opportunities in the DVD Recorder and flat panel TV displays have flourished with the start of digital terrestrial broadcasts nationwide. We can surely expect TV program recording increases by the end users with the expansion of such business opportunities, and thus expand RWPPI activities for further contributions."

This time as a new member of RWPPI, we welcomed "Noa Technologies International Ltd." Mr. Takanashi of Noa Technologies International Ltd. expressed strong ambitions in contributing to the industry with their expertise in technical consultation in relation with the optical storage manufacturers.

Next, the Round Robin Test progress report and explanations of the up-coming schedule of activities by the head chairman, Mr. Ishii (of Pioneer Corporation) was made. Plans to summarize the results of the Stage-6 tests are scheduled for the January 19, 2007 meeting, and will be followed by an official report at the JRT Tokyo Seminar on February 23rd, and Taiwan Seminar in March 8th of 2007.

From the Taiwan Recording-Media Industries Association (TRIA), the Secretary General, Mr. John Wu gave a presentation of their latest activities in the industry with their 2nd anniversary since establishment. TRIA and RWPPI plans to hold the 4th joint Round Robin Test Seminar in March next year in Taipei.

Taiwan Recording-Media Industries Association (TRIA)
Secretary General
Mr. John Wu

Next, Mr. Hayashi of Olympus Imaging Corporation then presented an analytical introduction of the current digital camera user's data archiving. The transition for optical storage discs from CD-R/RW to DVD-R/RW started showing signs about a year ago, where he believes there is still plenty of room for improvements in its use. Furthermore, explanations on the user needs to actualize recording of various data all in 1 DVD disc for storage, and playback on the DVD player in addition to user survey results were explained.

Olympus Imaging Corporation
Mr. Hayashi

This was then followed with the introduction of new products. First, Mr. Takemoto of Jungle Inc. introduced the PC software "VR Bridge", the mediate for making easy contents transfer between PC and DVD recorders and RW/R discs recorded in VR Mode.

Right afterwards, Mr. Iwasaki from Sharp Corporation then introduced their new DVD recorder that can "simultaneously record 2 digital terrestrial broadcast programs," along with the demonstration of their realized superior feature qualities of "Aquos Familink."

Last on the agenda, Mr. Joko of Fujiwara-Rothchild Ltd. presented the special lecture on "The Present & Future of Optical Storage Industries." To present the future of the optical disc industry, Mr. Joko made a 3-step analytical forecast of the blue laser recording format: "the developmental period," "the growth period for the blue laser market," and "the future of blue laser discs." In addition, he explained how changes in user concept regarding "original" and "copy" might change, especially in light of the future down loading business of visual contents over the Internet.

Fujiwara-Rothchild Ltd.
Mr. Joko