Opto-Electronics & Systems Laboratories of the Industrial Technology Research Institute debuted Taiwan's first self-developed blue-laser DVD pick-up head (PUH) at an OES press event in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The blue-laser DVD PUH conforms to the HD-DVD standard, the next-generation blue-laser DVD format developed by Toshiba and NEC, and will be initially used in read only DVD drives, according to OES deputy director Der-ray Huang.

OES will offer the PUH to interested local IC design houses and makers of optical discs for developing and testing of blue-laser DVD products, Huang said. Blue-laser DVD products are expected to become commercial in two or three years, according to Huang.