HD-DVD camp claims goals achieved

THE HD-DVD CONSORTIUM held a press conference to announce that they had met or exceeded all the targets they had set for 2006.

The organisation said it promised 150 titles and ended up releasing 250 approximately. One of the stats that was bandied about was the rate of disc sales per player. The number was in the high twenties, but this figure is skewed as people purchase the dual-format discs without having a HD-DVD player.

One of the more interesting things to come out of the event was the introduction of a 51GB triple layer HD-DVD. This is achieved through increasing the data per layer to 17GB. This disc is expected to be ready for production in Q4 2007. It eliminates the size advantage held by Blu Ray, but one question which remained ominously unanswered is whether the existing installed base of players (and players sold to that point) will be able to read this new disc.

Sales of HD-DVD discs are forecast to exceed $600 million in 2007 which should make the hold-out studios stand up and take notice.

New HD-DVD partners include Bandai, Onkyo, LiteOn and Meridian, a high end manufacturer of home theatre equipment. µ