[AV Media Matters] more dvd-r; dvd-ram

[mickelmor@yahoo.com]

adding to my previous post:

someone correct me if i'm wrong, but assuming the same
piece of dvd-r media could be written with either a
635nm or a 650nm laser, what's preventing a user of
either dvd-r drive from hacking the drive's firmware
to write to either dvd-r media format, and subvert
copy protection measures? (aside from such actions
voiding the warranty of the product and being
potentially illegal.)

this would be in the tradition of deCSS, "audio" CD-R
deck owners getting their machines to accept
"computer" media, DVD player owners disabling CSS
chips and region coding abilities, etc. as they say in
disneyland's carousel of tomorrow, "if we can dream
it, we can do it."

re: dvd-ram:

i've heard rumor that the ce/dvd powers are regarding
dvd-ram as a "dead" format for any applications but
data storage.

my sources are not dvd+rw consortium members, either.
those folks had panned dvd-ram as having a data filing
structure that was impractical for video
storage...maybe there's some truth to this?

the rumor fits with what's happened with dvd-ram
lately. recall that before pioneer got the AO3 dvd-r
drive into apple's G4s (what apple calls the
"superdrive,") a panasonic dvd-ram drive was an option
on the G3, which was touted for video production as
well. apple no longer offers the dvd-ram drive.

also, at nab, panasonic introduced a combination
dvd-ram/dvd-r drive, to be priced competitively with
the new pioneer dvd-r drive. i personally took this as
a significant concession on matsushita's part...it was
their first endorsement of dvd-r. kind of like when,
if i remember right, their first dvd-ram drives had
read/write support for the panasonic-pushed pd
format...

if anyone has heard similar things, please email me.

terence keegan
tkeegan@uemedia.com