Pressing the case for their single-sided digital video disk standard, Sony Corp and Philips Electronics NV have staged the first public demonstration of the dual-layer single-sided compact disk technology from Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. They gave the demonstration to industry insiders at the International Tape Association conference in Rancho Mirage, California last month. The dual-layer demonstration used a standard-density disk with an extra information layer on it, the prototype of which was manufactured by Minnesota Mining. Running on a modified player, the disk was able to travel between the layers and tracks with ease according to the companies. The dual-layer technology is part of the High Density MultiMedia CD specifications t hat Sony and Philips have proposed, which also includes the 7.4Gb players themselves. These will be able to play up to four and a half hours of uninterrupted digital video, the partners claim, and have applications for the film industry as well as for business. The high density disks will be made on existing processes and will be backwards-compatible with other CD formats, the companies asserted.
