Tokyo, Japan - Sony Corporation today announced that sample delivery of its first DVD-ROM drive, the DDU100E, will commence in January 1997. The drive features a Sony-developed "dual discrete optical pickup" and "tilt servo control" for CD family compatibility and robust signal quality.

The dual discrete optical pickup has both a 650nm red laser diode and a 780nm infrared laser diode as well as two discrete objective lenses, allowing it to read a multitude of optical discs, including DVD-ROM, DVD Video, CD-ROM, CD-R (Recordable) and CD Audio discs. The two laser diodes optimize the tracking of different substrate thicknesses and pit sizes of DVD and CD discs. Sony recognizes that computer users have already made significant investments in their CD-ROM and CD-R libraries. Through the dual discrete optical pickup, the DDU100E DVD-ROM drive enables users to enjoy the enormous storage capacity of the new DVD-ROM medium without sacrificing the use of existing CD-ROM and CD-R discs.

In addition, the DDU100E DVD-ROM drive features "tilt servo control." This detects the incident angle of the laser beam and forces it to stay perpendicular to the disc to improve overall data read integrity for a superior level of reliability and performance.

• About DVD-ROM
  DVD-ROM discs have 4.7GB capacity (for one-sided, single-layer discs), seven times higher than conventional CD-ROM discs. Because of this high data capacity, a DVD-ROM disc can store high-quality graphics, digital video, computer data, 3D animation games or high-capacity reference titles.
  

In recent years, the popularity of CD-ROM drives has soared, making them a standard PC peripheral. The number of CD-ROM software titles has similarly increased. The Japan Recording Media Industry Association estimates that because of these factors, as well as the growth of CD-R use among consumers as a high-capacity (650MB) storage medium, 1996 worldwide demand for discs will reach more than 76 million.

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