The world's first 5 1/4 inch PC drive HR-1100A for HD-DVDs from NEC will be available from October onwards. The HD DVD drive plays back HD-DVDs, DVDs and CDs. This is all down to the optical head that was developed by NEC which can read blue, red and ultra-violet light.

The NEC HD DVD Multireader HR-1100A is the first drive that is capable of reading the HD-DVD format. HD DVD media are read at 2x speed. DVD minus and DVD plus media can be read at up to 8x DVD speed, as well as rewritable and dual-layer DVDs. It can also read DVD-RAMs at 5x speed. Finally, the HD-DVD Multireader delivers a convincing 32x CD speed as CD-ROM drive. The new HD DVD standard enables a storage capacity of up to 64 GB – which is over 13 times greater than that of a conventional DVD – as well as 16 hours of recording and playback in HD quality.

HD-DVD – greater storage capacity for films, High Definition TV and data

The HD-DVD is comparable to the DVD. The difference is that blue instead of red laser light is used. The advantage of using blue laser light is that it has considerably shorter wavelengths. This light is much easier to concentrate via optical lenses, which means that the data can be written to the disk at a far higher density. As a result, much more data can be stored on a HD-DVD medium. An HD-DVD can store 15 GB per layer. A double-sided HD-DVD can store up to 60 GB on two layers. The rewritable HD DVD-RWs offer 20 GB (single-layer) or 32 GB (dual-layer) storage capacity, which means up to 64 GB on double-sided media.

The HD DVD is capable of storing large-format, high-resolution cinema films, despite the vast amount of data involved, on media the size of DVDs or CDs. Leading entertainment industry enterprises have announced that they plan to market films on HD DVD. Almost 100 films have now been selected for HD DVD format, such as 'Batman Begins,', 'Million Dollar Baby', 'Alexander', 'Ocean's Twelve' and 'The Bourne Supremacy'. Classic movies such as '12 Monkeys', 'Forrest Gump' and 'Harry Potter' are also among the chosen films.

Basic Specifications:

The HR-1100A will be available in the market in January 2006, at a price tag of 500 Euros.

NEC will be exhibiting at the IFA 2005 in Berlin at Booth 317 in Hall 26. In a 'digital living room' and in other multimedia rooms and offices, NEC will demonstrate applications for perfect home cinema enjoyment.