Specifications

MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 200542
Writing 8.5GB to a double-layer disc in about 12 minutes:
Sounds good, but will it happen? We think so. In fact, we
bet that R&D testing is taking place at top-secret labs even as
you read this. But manufacturers would be loathe to admit
it, lest you choose to wait for burning speeds to increase be-
fore buying a double-layer DVD burner.
In fact, from what we’ve heard, one manufacturer’s exist-
ing 4x medium may be able to tolerate 8x write speeds with-
out requiring a new dye formulation. If this holds up—and it
sounds like it will—you can expect a gold rush of 8x double-
layer DVD burners this summer. Just remember that while the
drives may be cheap, the media won’t be.
8x double-layer
dvd burning
8.5GB + 15 minutes = 1 fi nished disc
+ 1 happy PC upgrader
Imagine if this past year’s presi-
dential election didn’t have any
end-point. The fi nal vote would
occur, well, whenever. That’s
where we’re at with Blu-Ray
and HD-DVD as each vies to be-
come the next optical drive stor-
age standard for data and high-
defi nition video. Both sides are
building support, but neither has
pulled ahead far enough to close
the deal with consumers.
We think one of them has a
defi nitive lead.
Toshiba’s HD-DVD has a nice sell. The physical
disc structure was designed to allow manufactur-
ers of today’s DVD-Video discs to produce HD-
DVD discs without developing new equipment
or a radically different manufacturing process.
But even though Blu-Ray players, recorders, and
media will likely cost more than their HD-DVD
counterparts, the Blu-Ray format appears to be
building more momentum than its competitor.
Blu-Ray discs benefi t from a higher ceil-
ing on disc capacity than HD-DVD, offering up
to 54GB on a double-layer disc
compared with a maximum
36GB on a double-layer HD-DVD
disc. Blu-Ray has also wisely
ditched the clunky cartridge
formfactor in favor of a durable
disc coating licensed by TDK.
And Sony—one of the found-
ing members of the Blu-Ray
consortium—recently surprised
no one by declaring that the up-
coming PlayStation 3 would use
the Blu-Ray standard.
Toshiba shot back by announcing it would
ship a notebook PC with an internal recordable
HD DVD drive by this fall. This leaves open the
possibility that Blu-Ray may dominate con-
sumer electronics, while HD-DVD captures
the PC market.
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD divide the nation
Audigy 4 — and More
Creative may be the last bastion of audio
acceleration
If it weren’t for Creative, PC audio technology might have
wound up in the dead tech sidebar on page 34. nVidia has
thrown in the towel. Philips cried uncle earlier this year. And
ESS no longer responds to our phone calls. Indeed, audio ac-
celeration has gone from a thriving segment to Palookaville
in just fi ve years.
With Intel’s 24-bit host-based HD Audio spec a reality, dis-
crete PC audio has just one champion left: Creative Labs. Love
it or hate it, Creative is the only player still committed to build-
ing soundcards that offl oad processing work from the CPU.
Creative didn’t release any bombshells this winter, save the
announcement of an upgraded Audigy 2 ZS card named Au-
digy 4 that increases the signal-to-noise ratio from 108dB to
113dB. The card’s DSP is the same, but Creative is adding bet-
ter digital audio converters and an external box to the mix.
Finally, although he declined to specify details, a spokes-
person told us the company is committed to audio accelera-
tion and is working on an entirely new audio architecture
for 2005. We don’t have any hard facts yet, but our guess
is that the upcoming architecture will include a new ver-
sion of EAX, Dolby Digital encoding at the hardware level,
and all the intellectual property Creative amassed when it
bought defunct soundcard maker Aureal and audio designer
Sensaura. We doubt Creative will resurrect Aureal’s Wave
Tracing technology, which used geometry to calculate audio
in a 3D environment, but we can see Creative integrating
Sensaura’s Virtual Ear technology, which lets you fine-tune
3D audio for your own ears.
In Japan, where HDTV already has a firm footing, television
junkies are dropping $3,000 for Sony’s first Blu-Ray recorder.
But prices are sure to drop as more models are released.
tECH pREVIEW