NEC has struck another blow for the HD DVD camp in their battle against the Blu-Ray "evil doers" with their development of a prototype drive for PCs that supports CD, DVD and HD DVD. The HD DVD support is read-only at the moment but write support is on the way. Take that Blu-Ray scum!

NEC has developed optical head technology that supports three types of disk - HD DVD, DVD and CD. They announced on 20 December that they have manufactured the world's first half-height drive for desktop PCs that uses the technology.

The HD DVD/DVD/CD 3-generation laser pick-up, system LSI and firmware technology announced will smooth the path for device miniaturisation and the inclusion of HD DVD drives in personal computers. It should be noted that the prototype drive only supports HD DVD playback at this time.

NEC has developed a laser pick-up that can support up to three wavelengths using one objective lens and three blue/red laser diodes. The new pick-up corrects spherical aberrations caused by substrate layer thickness or wavelength differences by changing the objective lens' magnifaction. Support for three wavelengths is achieved by using the aperture control element to adjust the objective lens aperture ratio to support the three disk types.

In addition, the 3-generation compatible system LSI has been refined to the point where it is a similar size to current CD/DVD drives, allowing a half-height drive for desktop PCs to be realised. HD DVD uses an adaptive PRML system and ETM method to compensate for amplitude margin deterioration and achieve stable operation.

NEC will exhibit the newly-developed HD DVD drive at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA from 6 - 9 January, 2005.

Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20041220/nec.htm

News Release:
http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0412/2004.html