Philips Electronics announced that its new 'All Speed' DVD+R blank medium is the first to be approved for 1X up to 16X recording speeds. This allows consumers to use this single disc at all recording speeds - from real-time 1X video recording speed up to the maximum achievable 16X speeds. A 16X DVD drive writes the full 4.7 GB DVD+R disc in about 5 minutes. Mass volume shipments of this new 16x DVD+R medium will start in August.

The new 1-16X DVD+R disc was co-developed by Philips Optical Storage and CMC of Taiwan. The disc uses a new Oxonol dye developed by FujiFilm, containing no heavy metals/banned substances. The developments are based on the results of Philips Research's innovations in optical-storage technologies, which include the development of a new write strategy for high-speed writing.

Philips new DVD+R disc was the first 16x media to be approved by the DVD+R/RW Verification Laboratories Group (DVLG). The format verification laboratories test newly developed DVD+R, DVD+R DL and DVD+RW discs from media manufacturers to verify that read and write performance comply with the standard specifications to ensure optimal recording on discs.

www.philips.com