ITinfo: Faster DVD Recorders Coming Next Month

Faster DVD Burners

4.7GB in less than 15 minutes

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Faster DVD Recorders Coming Next Month

by Dave Murphy
ISSN 1535-3613

Sharp and Mitsubishi Electric, two Japanese manufacturers, have developed more powerful laser diodes, the components that produce the beam of light used to read and write data from DVD disks. The 100 milliwatt pulse lights, about 40 percent more powerful than current technology will allow a doubling of recording speed for DVD recordable and rewritable drives. DVD burners using the new 100mW technology are expected to be available as soon as May 2002.

DVD burners should jump in speed to 4x using the laser technology, a boon for system administrators who are grappling for an easy way to backup large databases and network servers without using older alternatives such as magnetic tape. The new lasers are expected to allow data to be written at 44Mbps, requiring only 14 minutes to write an entire 4.7GB disk.

The 100mW laser diodes have a current life of about 4,000 hours, more than enough for years of daily use. Initial production from each company is expected to be 100,000 diodes per month.

Dave's Opinion

I've been waiting for a faster DVD burner. At 14 minutes for almost 5GB, that's fast enough for me to make the jump to DVD. Word on the street is that the drives will sell for about $250 through the distribution channel and stay well under $300 at retail.

The next major speed jump, to 6x, isn't expected until next year. I'm happy if I can get a whole year's use out of bleeding-edge products before upgrading.

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updated April 18, 2002
http://dgl.com/itinfo/2002/it020418.html