The FVD optical format is being put forward by Taiwanese manufacturers as a competitor to HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Recently, Microsoft has said that it will support the FVD format.

Has Microsoft even said anything about Blu-ray support? And here they go announcing support for the obscure FVD? Whew! Must be something going on behind the scenes that I’m unaware of.

If the FVD format wins support from Microsoft, Taiwanese makers of optical discs and drives are expected to gain a great opportunity to enter the global market because they will not have to pay the high royalty costs of the big international formats, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.

The FVD format differs technically from the DVD standard in physical format, compression (encoding) and decoding, and content protection, and therefore is not subject to normal DVD royalty charges. However, the FVD standard is compatible with the DVD format, a fact that strengthens its position to the market. First-generation FVD discs will have a storage capacity of 5.4-6GB for single-sided discs, and 9.8-11GB for double-sided discs, and will support resolutions of up to 1280 x 720 pixels. Second-generation FVD discs are expected to have a capacity of more than 15GB and will support resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels. However, the FVD standard is compatible with the DVD format.

Since FVD is so similar to DVD, maybe Microsoft is trying to learn more about HD on normal DVD discs because the Xbox 360 will be doing just that? I’m just guessing here.

Thoughts?

CDRinfo - Microsoft to Support Taiwanese FVD Project for HD Video