by Anton Shilov
05/23/2006 | 12:57 PM
Acer Computer, who is one of the globe’s biggest producers of personal computers (PCs), may shortly intro its laptops with either Blu-ray or HD DVD disk drives, providing users a choice and not taking sides, like some other computer makers.
<%BANNER[article]%>A news-story by DigiTimes web-site claims that Acer plans to introduce notebooks that feature built-in Blu-ray Disc (BD) optical disc drives (ODDs) and HD-DVD drives at Computex 2006 show in Taipei, Taiwan, which kicks off on the 6th of June, 2006.
Acer did not comment as to whether notebooks featuring BD or HD-DVD drives will be featured at its booth, according to the web-site, however, it is known that Acer was going to intro a multimedia notebook featuring HD DVD drive (see this story for details). Being agnostic to the formats and taking no sides, Acer may support both competing next-generation DVD formats.
Traditional single-layer DVDs allow consumers to watch movies in 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) resolution with Dolby Digital audio. The blue-laser discs will provide consumers 1920x1080 resolution as well as DTS or Dolby Digital Plus audio along with some additional interactive features.
Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba and NEC as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, which are among the world’s largest makers of electronics. Among Hollywood studios HD is supported by Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, whereas Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox endorse Blu-ray.