The purpose of this report is to present the format, creation, current applications, and economic forecasts for DVD technology. To emphasize the advances afforded using this technology, a side by side comparison with current Compact Disc technology will be used. Motorola’s Research and Development is currently investigating the possibilities for implementation of a DVD Group to interact with current research and product groups. This report will give the introduction and background necessary to determine the feasibility of DVD integration into current marketing and research products. This report will provide a simplified explanation of the construction methods required for DVD replication, solely for the purpose of presenting the difference in construction needed to manufacture a DVD.
The four parts of this report will discuss (1) a technological overview of DVD, utilizing a comparison of CD vs. DVD technologies, (2) the construction of a DVD, (3) current applications utilizing DVD, and (4) projected sales and revenues of DVD devices. The technological overview section will use a comparison of current CD specifications vs. DVD specifications to convey the advances made possible using DVD. The construction section explains the manufacture of a DVD to show the physical advantages of DVD for data storage and retrieval. The section covering current applications examines the five current formats for DVD specifications and how they are currently being used today. Finally, the sales and revenues section includes forecasts of DVD sales and distribution, based upon current sales and technology release.
Beyond the inception of DVD technology, advances have been developed by a group of ten consumer electronics companies, called the DVD Forum, who have agreed on the set technical specifications for each DVD format. Until recently, there were two competing groups of companies: one led by Sony, and the other by Toshiba, that were both trying to develop proprietary high-density optical disc formats. Fortunately, these two groups joined forces and agreed to form the DVD Forum. The DVD Forum has also actively encouraged participation from members of the entertainment and computer industries so that the DVD format will have a broad base of support in both the consumer and computer electronics areas.
As mentioned before, two of the primary goals of DVD are to provide both higher capacity and higher throughput than current CD-ROM technology offers. To demonstrate the advances afforded using DVD, this section will reference the specifications of CD-ROM vs. DVD technology.
Source: "DVD: The Dawn of a New Generation." July, 1998. Computer User |
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Category | CD-ROM | DVD |
Disc Diameter | 120 mm | 120 mm |
Disc Thickness | 1.2 mm | 1.2 mm |
Disc Structure | Single Substrate | Two Bonded 0.6 mm Substrates |
Laser Wavelengths | 780 nm (infrared) | 650 and 635 nm (red) |
Track Pitch | 1.6 microns | 0.74 microns |
Shortest Pit Length | 0.83 microns | 0.4 microns | Data Layers | 1 | 2 |
Data Sides | 1 | 2 |
Data Capacity | 650 Mbytes | 4.7 – 17.0 GB |
User Data Rate | 1.4 Mbits/sec | 10.0 Mbits/sec |
The key features, which comprise the difference between CD and DVD technologies, are the physical characteristics, data structure characteristics, and operating characteristics.
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Figure 1. DVD Comparison. Source: Smith, James. DVD Handbook, p. 19. |
Figure 2. Data Structures. Source: Smith, James. DVD Handbook. p. 22. | ![]() |
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Figure 3. Physical Formatting. |
Figure 4. Glass Mastering | ![]() |
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Figure 5. Metallization. |
Figure 6. Electroplating | ![]() |
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Figure 7. Molding |
Figure 8. Sputtering. | ![]() |
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Figure 9. Bonding. |
The above processes provide the DVD with a variable number of readable substrates, allowing a maximum of two substrates per side, with a maximum of two sides. This manufacturing process is not a large departure from conventional CD-ROM manufacturing processes, requiring higher tolerances in the mastering phases of the process, addition of gold and silicon carbide in the sputtering process, and the addition of a bonding process.
Current Research. Ongoing research in Tokyo performed by the Agency of Industrial Science and technology has led to advances producing a DVD capable of holding 15 times as much data as current DVDs. This high memory density is achieved by adding an additional antimony film to the DVD, pinpointing the laser beam allowing up to 30 hours of moving images to be stored, using conventional DVD devices for playback [4:1].
DVD-Video. High capacity, high throughput read-only optical disc that can be used for the interactive playback of high quality video, audio and graphic content. This application, similarly uses disc storage ranging from 4.7 to 17.0 GB, depending on the format.
DVD-Audio. Similar to the DVD-Video, differing only in the compression and storage of audio, rather than video.
DVD-R. High capacity, high throughput, write once, optical disc used as a general-purpose computer storage device. This application currently is formatted to hold 3.8 GB of storage per side, although current advances promise to achieve 4.7 GB per side.
DVD-RAM. High capacity, high throughput, read-write, used as a highly versatile storage medium for computers and other devices. This application currently uses its own format, allowing 2.6 GB of storage per side.
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Figure 10. Homes with DVD Technology |
As shown in figure 10, the distribution of DVD devices is growing exponentially, with the largest growth year occurring in 1999. A recent survey has found that DVD technology awareness in the public has grown from 18% in November 1997 to 49% in April 1998. This greater awareness has brought about large increases in player purchases followed by even greater sales of discs, primarily movies, as shown in the following graph, depicting DVD movie sales (yellow) combined with DVD-ROM sales (red).
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Figure 11. DVD Disc Production |
In addition, the Electronic Industries Association of Japan forecasts the market for DVD movie players worldwide will expand to 11.53 million units in 2002 from the 796,000 units sold in 1997. This represents a 71 percent annual growth on average during the period [8:5]. The International Recording Media Association predicts this growth will also propel the demand for DVD-Video product, increasing the number of stores selling or renting the new format from 5,000 outlets at the end of 1997, to more than 32,000 by the end of 1999 [7:15]
A Forrester Research study recently reported that DVD technology could eventually turn the home PC into a primary home entertainment platform [4:12]. The report projects the DVD will displace the television as the focal point for electronic recreation. The study also predicts the PC industry growth to surpass the consumer electronics industry by the year 2000 [4:15].
The development of DVD technology requires a relatively small capital investment in comparison with the potential revenue, which could be generated through product sales, as shown in the table below.
Source: Consumer Electronics Manufacturing Association DVD Report, p. 35. |
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Year | Unit Sales (Thousands) | Dollar Sales (Millions) | Average Unit Price |
1997 | 350 | $170 | $485 |
1998 | 750 | $326 | $435 |
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