Matsushita unveils DVD recorder for digital TV

[Gregg Lengling]

Wed 30 June, 2004 10:38
 
By Yukari Iwatani Kane and Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Matsushita, maker of Panasonic brand products, has unveiled a DVD recorder based on Blu-ray technology which can read and store data at the much higher densities needed for recording digital television programmes.

The move gives it an edge in the battle against a rival technology supported by fellow Japanese electronics makers NEC and Toshiba.

The ability to record high-definition TV programmes is becoming important as countries around the world are set to shift to digital from analog programming.

Recordable DVD discs compatible with Matsushita's new recorder have a capacity of 25 or 50 gigabytes, compared with current 4.7 gigabyte discs. A 50-gigabyte disc can hold 4.5 hours of digital programming at the highest quality or 63 hours of analog programming.

Matsushita is a member of a consortium that backs Blu-ray, which competes with another blue laser-based technology known as HD DVD. It is the second firm to launch a Blu-ray DVD recorder after Sony Corp. did so last year.

NEC and Toshiba, which back HD-DVD, have no plans to launch blue laser DVD recorders until 2005.

Blue light, with a shorter wavelength than the red laser used in conventional DVD recorders, can read and store data at the higher densities needed for high-definition recordings.

Matsushita said the device is expected to be priced at about 300,000 yen (1,500 pounds) and 50 gigabyte discs at about 7,500 yen each. The recorder is equipped with a built-in tuner for digital terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, as well as terrestrial analog broadcasting.

It will be introduced in the Japanese market on July 31 in time for the August 13 start of the Olympics in Greece, which is expected to drive demand for digital televisions and DVD recorders. Matsushita said it has no current plans to sell the DVD recorder overseas.

Japan has already started offering terrestrial digital television programming in its largest cities, while U.S. television stations are required by law to switch to digital signals by the end of 2006, when 85 percent of American homes will be able to receive the higher-quality, crisper signals.

Other companies that support Blu-ray include Korea's Samsung Electronics, the Netherlands' Philips Electronics and U.S. company Dell.

In the previous battle over home-use recording technology, Matsushita and Sony, the world's top two consumer electronics makers, played their video cassette format off against each other, with Matsushita's VHS triumphing over Sony's Betamax.