Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: Toshiba Delays Launch of HD DVD Recorder, Ricoh Works on Cross-compatible Player Technology

By Mae Kowalke

TMCnet Associate Editor

 

In the race to market for HD DVD recorders, Toshiba appears to have stumbled slightly. Due to a production delay, the company has postponed sale of its HD DVD recorder, Associated Press reported Wednesday.

 

Toshiba’s (News - Alert) RD-A1 high-definition disc recorder was on schedule to start selling in stores this Friday, but the start date now is delayed until July 27.

 

The RD-A1 recorder (suggested retail price: $3,470) comes with a one-terabyte hard disk built in, and is capable of recording and storing as many as 130 hours of HD programming, AP said in its report.

 

Wednesday’s announcement is just the latest chapter in a battle between the HD DVD and Blu-ray high-definition formats, pitting Toshiba against Sony Corp. and Sumsung, both of which are championing Blu-ray.

 

Toshiba’s RD-A1 HD DVD player hit the U.S. market in April, and was joined in June by RCA’s HDV500 player. Also last month, the competition between HD DVD and Blu-ray heated up when Samsung began shipping its Blu-ray player, BD-P1000, to the U.S.

 

Adding further fuel to the fire, Sony plans to soon begin offering PCs with built-in Blu-ray drives, AP noted.

 

Watching the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray battle, Ricoh apparently has reached the conclusion that neither format is likely to win decisively anytime soon. The company said today that it is working on technology designed to enable players capable of reading both formats, AP reported.

 

The technology in question is an optical component that “uses a diffraction plate designed to adjust the laser so that light focuses on the proper position for each disc format, allowing a drive to read all formats,” AP said in its report.

 

Ricoh hopes to also adapt the technology—on display this week at the International Optoelectronics Exhibition just outside Tokyo—to enable a recorder capable of writing in both formats, as well.

 

”Ricoh is the first in the world to announce this hybrid technology,” AP quoted Ricoh spokesman Satoshi Aoki as saying. “We believe it's groundbreaking.”

 

Aoki added that Ricoh plans to begin delivering the optical component to electronics manufacturers near the end of 2007.