Audio Video News

High definition television is struggling to get off the ground with the hesitant support of local, cable, and satellite broadcasters. But as readers revealed in an online SGHT poll a while back, what would really give HDTV a kick in the pants would be a high definition playback medium—something like an HD-DVD.

If Constellation 3D is right, that HD disc may be just around the corner. The company, which is a developer of fluorescent multilayer discs (FMDs) and cards (FMCs), announced last week that its ongoing HDTV ROM technology development program has yielded a significant achievement: "the world's first HDTV-compatible fluorescent discs and drives."

C3D reports that the technical requirements of the ROM disc data read and output rates, which are in excess of 20 Mbits/sec for HDTV, were attained by using the "latest advancements in the proprietary set of fluorescent dye-polymer compositions" developed by the company. Constellation 3D says that sample disks were played and tested using its fluorescent disc drives designed and built by its drive group.

The company adds that the HDTV fluorescent disc drives include widely available standard red laser drive components as well as its internally developed optical pick-up mechanism, signal filtering system, and analog/digital data processing components.

C3D's Dr. Eugene Levich agrees with SGHT's readers that HDTV players and media are needed for a further proliferation and acceptance of HDTV. "The significance of today's achievement underscores the importance of our recently announced relationships with WAMO and Profilo Telra. Today we are able to demonstrate that our FMD technology will support the growing high density, High Definition markets with a viable, cost-effective, and aesthetically rich solution."