two separate beams. If the laser’s beam
diverges too far, the disc will be unread-
able. Moving the substrate on top of the
polycarbonate—closer to the laser—and
protecting it with a thin transparent cover
layer virtually eliminates birefringence.
Measuring just 98 microns thick, how-
ever, that protective layer is so thin that the
substrate is rendered extremely vulnerable
to scratches. Dust and fi ngerprints are big
problems, too. The initial solution was to
enclose the Blu-ray disc in a protective car-
tridge, but this was deemed too clumsy for
the worldwide market. It’s therefore likely
that Blu-ray disc manufacturers will place
an even thinner layer of TDK’s super-tough
Durabis 2 coating on top of that cover layer;
in fact, TDK began shipping such discs in
December 2005.
Most everything else about Blu-ray is
related to increased precision: A BD-ROM
will have a much tighter track pitch than
that of an HD-DVD: 0.32 microns, com-
pared to 0.40 microns. This specifi cation,
in turn, requires a laser with a larger lens
aperture: Both devices use a 405-nano-
meter wavelength blue-violet laser, butBlu-ray drives will be
equipped with a 0.85
numerical aperture
lens, compared to the
0.65 numerical aper-
ture lenses on HD-
DVD drives.
The payoff for this
extra research-and-
development effort is capacity: A single-layer
Blu-ray disc can store 25GB of data, and
dual-layer discs will offer 50GB capacities.
The Blu-ray Disc Association—an umbrella
group for the companies spearheading Blu-
ray development—is working on triple-layer
discs that offer 75GB of storage, and quad-
layer discs with 100GB capacities.FIRST-GENERATION
RETAIL PRODUCTS
Spec charts are meaningless if you can’t
buy the product they describe, but if all goes
according to plan, next-generation products
should be on store shelves by the time you
read this. They won’t be cheap: On the Blu-
ray front, Samsung’s BD-P100—a stand-
alone player for the consumer electronics
market—will be priced at $1,000. It will read
CDs and DVDs, in addition to BDs, but it
won’t record in any format. Pioneer’s BDR-
101A PC drive will play BDs, CDs, DVDs;
and it will burn at 2x speed for BD-R, 8x for
DVD-R/+R, and 4x for DVD-RW/+RW. It will
be priced at $1,000 when it ships in March.
Toshiba, one of the prime movers
behind HD-DVD, announced that its next
Qosimo notebook PC will be the fi rst to fea-
ture an HD-DVD drive. It will play HD-DVD
discs and read and write CDs and DVDswhen it ships in March. Toshiba expects
to ship stand-alone HD-DVD players that
same month. Details on HD-DVD PC drives
are harder to come by. NEC announced
its HD-DVD Multireader HR-1100A some
time ago, but has yet to announce a ship
date. The drive won’t burn anything, but it
will read HD-DVDs at 2x,DVDs at 8x,
and CDs at 32x speeds.
It should surprise no one that Sony will
equip its upcoming PlayStation 3 with a
Blu-ray drive capable of playing high-def
movies and games. The drive will also read
DVDs and CDs. When Microsoft settled
on a November 2005 launch date for the
Xbox 360, it had to equip the device with an
optical drive capable of reading only CDs
and DVDs—HD-DVD drives just weren’t
available. But Bill Gates used his 2006 CES
keynote speech to announce that Microsoft
would offer an external add-on HD-DVD
drive some time this summer.r & d BREAKING DOWN TECH —PRESENT AND FUTURE
62 MA XIMUMPC APRIL 2006
NEC was first out of the blocks
to announce an HD-DVD disc
drive for the PC, but
the company has since
become very quiet about
the HD-DVD Multireader
HR-1100A.NEC was first out of the blocks
to announce an HD-DVD discTHE INSIDE SCOOP ON NEXT-GEN DRM
Movie producers and other content developers don’t want anyone rip-
ping off their goods, so they’ve convinced the Blu-ray and HD-DVD
developers to incorporate new anti-copying technology. If the past is
a reliable indicator, however, these efforts will do more to
thwart consumers’ rights than to prevent widespread piracy.
Blu-ray and HD-DVD will both make use of Advanced
Access Content System (AACS), a new copy-protection
scheme developed by a consortium of companies that
includes Intel, Microsoft, Sony, Toshiba, Warner Brothers,
and Disney. AACS was developed exclusively for next-gen-
eration optical discs, and it revolves around encrypted content that can
be unlocked only with dynamic “keys.” All BD and HD-DVD devices will
have a set of keys that can unlock the data on BD and HD-DVD discs. If
one of these device keys becomes compromised, it can be revoked and
that device will be rendered incapable of reading new discs (because
the new discs won’t include the compromised keys).In January 2006, the AACS consortium moved to further impede
copying of high-defi nition content by requiring hardware manufactur-
ers to down-convert (to 960x540 resolution) any HD content sent
to a display device over an analog connection. The problem, as the
consortium sees it, is that their high-powered encryption
falls by the wayside as soon as the video signal is converted
to analog. Unfortunately, this will render any HDTVs shipped
without HDMI ports virtually useless.
But wait, it gets worse. HD-DVD also requires a display to
support Intel’s HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)
standard. These developments spell big trouble for early HDTV adopt-
ers who own sets equipped only with component analog video inputs.
The same goes for anyone who wants to watch HD video content on a
computer monitor—any display that’s not equipped with a DVI-HDCP
port will be incompatible with HD-DVD drives. The same will be true of
Blu-ray if that camp follows the HD-DVD group’s lead.thwart consumers’ rights than to prevent widespread piracy.eration optical discs, and it revolves around encrypted content that canto a display device over an analog connection. The problem, as thefalls by the wayside as soon as the video signal is converted
to analog. Unfortunately, this will render any HDTVs shipped
without HDMI ports virtually useless.support Intel’s HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)
standard. These developments spell big trouble for early HDTV adopt-Pioneer’s $1,000 BDR-101A PC drive will
play Blu-ray discs, CDs, and DVDs. It will
also burn discs at 2x speed for BD-R, 8x
for DVD-R/+R, and 4x for DVD-RW/+RW.Toshiba’s next
Qosimo will be the
first notebook
to have an
HD-DVDToshiba’s next
Qosimo will be the