It's still DiViDed they stand

Visitors to Comdex hoping to end their confusion over DVD formats left disappointed. Both the RDVDC (Recordable DVD Council representing the official DVD Forum) and the DVD Alliance claimed to have the best solution.
    The RDVDC pavilion displayed long-awaited DVD-Multi drives supporting all three official burn formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-Ram. The rival camp claimed its relatively new write-once DVD+R format worked in more machines than established DVD-R.
    Sony had a foot in both camps, showing its DRU-500A 'Dual-RW' drive, the first to write both DVD-R(W) and DVD+R(W) media. A new firmware update gives the DRU-500A four-speed writing for both DVD+R and DVD-R. Four-speed write-once blanks in both formats, and two-speed DVD-RW media, are expected by the New Year, and eight-speed drives are in the pipeline.
    RDVDC members told a press conference that write-once DVD-R was the best due to the low media cost and high compatibility - several said DVD-RW was best used only to make test images before committing them to DVD-R.
    Figures from TSR research claimed DVD-R media represented 75 per cent of current production, bringing low prices. The RDVDC also claimed mass-produced media from Taiwan will be dominated by DVD-R. For those who thought DVD-Ram was history, a demonstration of TV timeshifting showed its ability to read and write at the same time.
    The DVD Alliance fought back with research from Intellikey Labs claiming DVD+R boasted a 90 per cent compatibility rate compared to 77 per cent on DVD-R, and it said +R media production was relatively low because it began only this summer. The Alliance pointed out that major PC manufacturers including Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens and HP/Compaq all favoured DVD+R(W) drives.
    The rivals agreed that write-once media would outsell rewritables but there were no clues as to which will win, or if both will co-exist. Drives that can handle both seem the safest bet and choices in the long term will be influenced by media prices - though we were warned poor-quality blanks quickly lose data. One thing's for sure: despite all the multi-format products there's still no single model that can do it all.