"Here are some items that will give you some more background
on the technology in the new Apple DVD authoring solutions:
This link contain an audio interview with the Apple DVD product
manager. Well worth a listen: www.dvguys.com/archives.shtml
(Click on the January 11 movie). There is also some other great
information re the new Matrox RT Mac board and other MacWorld
DV related items.
How much video can you fit on a DVD-R disk?
iDVD has a fixed MPEG-2 data rate, so you can only fit up to
1 hour of video on a disc.
With our professional product, DVD Studio Pro, you can vary the
data rate of the MPEG-2 encoder. Obviously reducing the date (which
means increasing the compression) will affect the quality of the
video somewhat, however it will let you fit more video on a disc,
possibly in the range of 90 to 120 minutes.
The reason commercial DVD's (that you buy from the video shop)
can store far more video is that they can be double layered or
even double sided. This allows up to 13GB of data, as opposed
to the maximum of 4.7GB on a CD you can burn yourself. There is
no other burner on the market that can go above 4.7GB, so this
is just a fundamental technology limitation at the moment. See:
www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro/av.html
and www.2-pop.com/cgi/boards/macworld2k1.cgi?read?3
For more information than you ever wanted about DVD and the difference
between all the formats out there see the DVD-FAQ at www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
DVD-R General vs Authoring Media:
The SuperDrive in the G4/733 requires a new type of blank media.
This DVD-R 4.7GB version 2.0 media that is required by the SuperDrive
is available in Australia from Pioneer. RRP price is $29.95 per
disk. Older DVD-R or so called "authoring media" won't work. Here's
the background on why www.sonic.com/tech_dvdr_home.html
DVD-R Technology
There are two 4.7 GB DVD-R specifications bearing the 2.0 version
number:
* DVD-R for Authoring * DVD-R for General "DVD-R for Authoring"
uses 635nm lasers for writing, and is intended for professional
authoring applications. The Pioneer DVR-S201 drive uses a 635nm
laser and so it can be thought of as an "authoring drive".
"DVD-R for General" uses 650nm lasers and is intended for eventual
mass distribution to industrial and consumer users. In addition
to the increased wavelength, "DVD-R for General" also includes
copy protection technology on blank media to prevent unauthorized
'bit-for-bit' copying of encrypted material. The new Pioneer DVR-S103
will only write to general (650nm) media so it can be thought
of as a "general drive". It will not write to version 1.0 (3.95
GB) media, which, like 4.7 GB authoring media, is only usable
in 635nm drives such as the DVR-S101 and DVR-S201. Pioneer will
continue to sell the DVR-S201 even after the introduction of the
DVR-S103 so that this media can still be used.
The Pioneer DVR-S103 will be bundled by Compaq in select models
from the Presario 7000 series, and Apple have announced that they
will be including the drive (aka "SuperDrive") as an option in
the new G4/733.
There is no difference in playback compatibility between the
two specifications, but the blank DVD-R media that may be used
is different for each drive type. "DVD-R for Authoring" drives
require "authoring" blank media, and "DVD-R for General" drives
"general" blank media.”
