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07/10/2001 Archived Entry: "Recordable DVD Wars Heat Up With New Entries"

PCWorld.com - Recordable DVD Wars Heat Up With New Entries

This week's TechXNY (aka PC Expo) brought both good news and bad news to those who want to record their own DVDs.

First the good news: Real products exist both for your PC and your living room that will let you create DVDs with your own data or video--and that video can be played in your living room DVD player. Prices, although still high, are starting to come down. And a host of new products are coming this summer and fall.

The bad news: You still have to deal with several incompatible versions of re-recordable DVD.

DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD-R are all standards developed by the DVD Forum, an industry group with more than 250 members, though it is not a regulatory standards body. Yet another format, DVD+RW, has been developed by an alliance of major companies, including Hewlett-Packard and Philips. And yes, it is confusing even to those who follow the industry closely.