dvd ram 16x when ?

[jjbtnc]

Got a previous post going about a new writer, but there was one other thing i wanted to check.
Fairly recently a few manufacturers said that they were going to be bringing out 16x dvd ram drives - any idea on the timescale of when we should start seeing dvd ram drives faster than the current 5x ?

[garryheather]

If you're on about reading only, hopefully there will be one or two smaller increases before long - but the way DVD-RAM works means I'd be surprised if it hit 16x any time soon.

As far as writing goes, certainly don't hold your breath. Even if you turn off the automatic verification feature of DVD-RAM it's a phase change medium and I doubt will get any faster than that currently seen on RW media... which is what, these days ? Between 4 and 8x ?

[jjbtnc]

just some stuff i saw a while back


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/03/dvd-ram_16x_launch/

and

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/05/promoting_dvd-ram/

[garryheather]

There's a difference between a few samples in a lab and mass production at a price the consumer will tolerate. This interested me, too:

"Better media availability will help. But the RAMPRG is arguably hindering as much as helping. Invited to a demo of 16x DVD-RAM drives and media ahead of their formal launch this past weekend, we were surprised to see no drive explicitly marked as DVD-RAM"

... which suggests to me we can expect to see DVD-RAM2 before long - with no garauntee it will be compatible with what you and I use now.

Did you see in that first article that some demos were just hitting 6x ? Wow. What an improvement. 6x from 5x. Cool.

Basically this confirms what I said before. It needs an alternative to the phase change media we have now. There are technical limitations to the medium which slow it down (ie the verification for starters) which may or may not be addressed in future incarnations of the format. If you're looking towards buying a drive now and am concerned that it will be obsolete within the week, I think you're safe for the time being.

[jjbtnc]

pretty much agree.

Thanks for the comments