Network World on Optical

Sharp has first TVs with built-in Blu-ray Disc recorders

Martyn Williams — 2008-10-15T00:00:00Z

Sharp will start selling next month in Japan the first LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions with built-in Blu-ray Disc recorders, it said Wednesday. The sets should be on sale in the U.S. before the end of this year and launch in Europe in 2009.

Sanyo laser to enable faster, higher capacity Blu-ray Discs

Martyn Williams — 2008-10-06T00:00:00Z

Sanyo Electric has developed a blue laser diode that will help lay the ground toward higher capacity and faster Blu-ray Disc systems.

Open source could fix e-voting flaws, California secretary of state says

Jon Brodkin — 2008-09-25T00:00:00Z

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen said open source software can help fix some of the flaws in controversial electronic voting systems.

Which disc is which and what can my drive burn?

2008-09-12T00:00:00Z

This is actually pretty simple, although the alphabet stew can be confusing to the uninitiated.

Mercury Pro DVD-/+RW Samsung Super Writemaster

2008-09-02T00:00:00Z

The DVD burners in the iMac (8X write speed for DVD±R) and the Mac Pro (16X write speed for DVD±R) aren't the fastest on the market. There's actually a mechanism created by Samsung that can write DVD±R at 20X, and it's found in OWC's Mercury Pro DVD-/+RW Samsung Super Writemaster 20X External DVD burner.

Toshiba's XDE DVD players won't hurt Blu-ray Disc

2008-08-29T00:00:00Z

When Toshiba announced its new XDE DVD player promising it could convert the picture quality of standard DVDs up to the high definition, industry watchers took note.

Panasonic to bring Blu-ray Disc burners to Europe

Martyn Williams — 2008-08-28T00:00:00Z

Panasonic will soon begin selling Blu-ray Disc-based video recorders in Europe, it said Thursday at the IFA electronics show in Berlin.

Toshiba's XD-E500 DVD player

2008-08-28T00:00:00Z

Toshiba has been hyping the heck out of its new upconverting XD-E500 DVD player but has also been careful not to declare it an equivalent to Blu-ray, the high-definition format that beat out Toshiba's HD-DVD.

LaCie Portable DVD±RW with LightScribe

2008-08-21T00:00:00Z

Portable products typically must balance a set of contrary design goals: they can either offer fast performance or be physically light, but not both. LaCie's Portable DVD±RW with LightScribe, Design by Sam Hecht, is one product where style and weight trumped speed and (to a certain extent) sturdiness. Even so, it's the portable DVD burner of choice for MacBook Air owners. Just don't drop it.

Toshiba propels DVD quality to near high definition

2008-08-19T00:00:00Z

Toshiba, which lost out to Sony in the battle for the next-generation DVD format, has announced a new technology that could help extend the life of current DVD libraries.