The rising popularity of digital video disk (DVD), the technology tipped to replace video recorders, video tapes and CDs, has been boosted by computer maker, Gateway 2000's decision to ship a DVD-Rom drive as standard in all its new computers. It won't be long before the others follow suit.
The potential for DVD development is huge and Ireland is already positioning itself to catch some of the action. Next March, the second European DVD Summit will take place in Dublin Castle, bringing together industry leaders from Europe, the US and Japan. The keynote speaker will be Emile Patrone, head of the Hollywood DVD Video Group that includes Time-Warner and MGM. The conference will seek to explore some of the contentious issues surrounding the technology which can deliver cinema quality video and store vast amounts of data. However, there have been teething problems developing standards for it.
The US has chosen to adopt its own encryption (US Region 1) format, possibly as a means of controlling the global distribution of films. It is not in filmmakers' interests to have Hollywood blockbusters available on DVD in Europe while films are still on cinema release in the US. Accordingly, these films can only be played on US DVD players, though new Region 0 players are becoming available which will play US DVDs.
There are also differences in the picture scanning frequency standard between the US and the rest of the world. Every DVD disk that comes out of the US at the moment has to be modified for the wider global market. The DVD conference will be focusing on the implications for these territories of the growth in demand for DVD technology. According to Time Warner, one million DVD players sold in the US in its first 18 months. This compares with 90,000 video recorders and 275,000 CD players sold in their first two years. With DVD players retailing at about £200, the potential market is vast. The conference will be an independent venture, chaired by Mr John Barker, editor of Inside Multimedia, an interactive media newsletter. He chose Dublin after he and Irishman, Mr Kieran O'Hea, concluded it would be a natural follow-up to the inaugural conference held at the Trianon Palace in Versailles last year.
Mr O'Hea also has an ulterior motive. As a founder member of the European DVD Union, and long-time multimedia and information industry adviser to the European Commission, he recently decided to put his money where his mouth is and get involved in one of Ireland's first DVD companies.
He teamed up with a highly innovative multimedia start-up company, 44K, now known as DV4. It is co-ordinating the DVD Summit which Mr O'Hea expects to be attended by around 250 delegates. He readily admits it's a little pre-emptive for DV4 to get involved in this event, when the company is still in its infancy. But he also sees it as an excellent opportunity to alert Ireland to DVD's market potential.
"If you look at the component elements of the digital economy, Ireland is well advanced. It has proven itself as an ideal adapter of content for international consumption - this has been demonstrated through the software model. The next phase can be to map the localisation model onto multimedia content."
Mr O'Hea envisages Ireland becoming a gateway for all DVD modification outside the US. This would involve Ireland acting as a clearing centre of sorts for the distribution and translation of US DVDs. Instead of 20 distributors in 20 countries having to localise the disks for their specific markets, one disk could be produced here with multiple soundtracks and subtitles and then distributed onward.
One multinational, Creative Labs, currently produces DVDs here, and Mr O'Hea expects a range of new activities to emerge in the creation of enhanced content. A video disk can hold 4.7 gigabytes of data per side which will combine the digital surround sound of compact discs with crisp, high-resolution video. DVD allows users to choose widescreen theatre format from a menu of screen aspect ratios, and rewinding and fast forwarding will become a thing of the past. Viewers can scan through specific scenes, and access information about the film, the director and the particular shot.
Two potentially lucrative applications of DVD technology are emerging in the areas of education and corporate promotion and training videos. Already the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) has had discussions with DV4 about converting films to DVD format for the new school curriculum.
From next year a film module will be included in the Leaving Certificate English syllabus, and Irish films Into The West and My Left Foot have been earmarked for the course. By making the films available on DVD, interviews with the directors and cast can be included. The screenplay could run alongside the film, to facilitate deeper analysis, and teachers will be able to skip to and from relevant scenes without the trouble of fast forwarding and rewinding all the time.
According to Mr Jerome Morrissey, director of the NCTE: "There is no doubt about DVD being ideal in terms of flexibility of use and all the added-value offerings. From the New Year, all new computer purchases into schools will have DVD as standard. This technology is coming at a really nice time and it works very well in terms of Internet interactivity."
A report commissioned by Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and Ballyfermot Senior College earlier this year, Multimedia Ire- land - Realising the Potential, estimated the European market for interactive entertainment software was worth almost $3.5 billion (£2.3 billion). That is 80 per cent of the size of the European cinema box office. The report concluded that the industry could be positioned as a world centre for both content development and service provision.
Mr Gerry Clarke, project officer for international services at Enterprise Ireland, views the forthcoming DVD conference as very timely. With the increased convergence of data, voice and video communications, he believes the Dublin Castle gathering could be equated to an Internet conference four years ago.
"It always takes a while for industry to recognise the next big thing, and this will help greatly in generating awareness. DVD opens up a whole new way of looking at things, making the opportunities for creative content a possibility. Certainly we would see Ireland being well positioned to become a fulfilment centre for multimedia content."
DVD Summit 2 will take place from March 30th to April 1st, 1999. Further contact details can be found on www.dv4.com/dvdsummit2.
