Fujifilms new DVD+R 1X-16X optical media will be available in the U.S. market in September, while their dual layer DVD media is shipping now.
Fujifilms DVD+R 1X-16X optical media is among the industry’s first optical technologies to offer a disc capable of recording consistently and reliably in drives ranging from 1X-16X recordingspeeds. At a speed of 16X, a full 4.7 GB DVD+R disc can be written in about 6 minutes.
This new disc continues a legacy of innovation by incorporating Fujifilm’s unique, patented organic dye coating that was announced in January. The heavy-metal free dye comes from the company’s extensive research and development labs, which have over the last 70 years created an extensive library of innovative compounds based on photochemical research that have been responsible for advancing many technologies.
“As DVD recording technology has evolved, Fujifilm engineers have worked side-by-side with hardware vendors and retailers to help bring innovation to the marketplace,” said Rich Gadomski, Vice President, Marketing, Recording Media Division, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. “This new product will help decrease the number of SKU’s retailers need to stock, simplify consumer choice and help retailers eliminate confusion.”
The new media is optimized for customer recording valuable digital data, whether recording in real time at 1X speed or with a new 16x DVD drive. Fujifilm-branded DVD media incorporate the company’s new “Oxonol” dye coating, the first such coating to be used by Fujifilm engineers in Japan in conjunction with leading hardware vendors to provide recording capability for such a wide range of drive speeds, and is compatible with existing drive technology already in the market.
New digital video and imaging technologies are driving consumer demand for increased storage capacity for a variety of personal uses. The DVD format has become a popular choice for recording and archiving data. According to NPD Group, the number of desktop computers sold through retail that have DVD recordable drives has risen from 25 percent to 45 percent in the 18 months ending June 2004.
“The ability to share and archive a new generation of visual data is driving new technologies that are increasing quality and capacities at a tremendous rate,” noted James Cito, Optical Products Manager, Recording Media Division, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. “Fujifilm has always been committed to providing technology that helps the industry push the next generation of products.”
The Fujifilm DVD+R DL media achieves a total 8.5 GB on a single disc by writing data at 2.4X speed onto two separate dye layers. The movie industry has being using double layer recording technology for years to produce and distribute major motion pictures on DVD-ROM for the home market. Because the standards needed to play those DVDs are already built into existing DVD players, Fujfilm DVD+R DL discs will be able to be replayed on most existing DVD players and DVD-ROM drives already installed in the market.
New Consumer, Business Applications Need Added Capacity
New higher capacity DVD media are ideal for archival, storage and retrieval of high-capacity data files such as photos and video or PC and network backup in home and business environments. A single 8.5 GB DVD+R DL disc can hold the data equivalent of:
— 12 Compact Discs (CD);
— 2,000 MP3 formatted songs; or
— 240 minutes of DVD quality video
Companies that are creating DVD presentations and educational seminars will be able to now distribute large amounts of data on a single disc while IT managers will have another option for backing-up desktop systems or creating single-disc system “images” for configuring client PCs for rapid deployment of new computers on corporate networks.
