Recordable versions of DVD-Video systems, the compact disc version of the video cassette, could go on sale as early as the end of next year.
The first DVD-Video players, launched two years ago, can only be used to play pre-recorded software. The electronics and entertainment industries have since developed a second generation of players, which can replay television broadcasts, camcorder footage and images downloaded from the Internet.
Koji Hase, head of DVD for Toshiba, the Japanese electronics group, said this week it was now technically possible to produce a disc capable of storing two hours of audio-visual footage.
However, the electronics industry has yet to secure agreement from the Hollywood movie studios on an effective copyright protection mechanism to prevent recordable DVDs from being pirated.
Copyright protection is a sensitive issue in Hollywood, and proved to be one of the thorniest problems during the preparations for the introduction of the first generation of DVD-Video systems.
However, Mr Hase, who is also chairman of the DVD Forum, the consortium of companies co-ordinating the development of DVD technology, claimed to be confident of reaching an agreement before Christmas.
With a copyright protection agreement in place, the DVD Forum hopes to distribute the full technical specifications for recordable DVD early next year.
A limited number of systems (retailing for up to £2,000 sterling each) would then be ready to go on sale "very late in 1999", according to Mr Hase.
The electronics industry had high hopes that DVD technology would provide a sorely needed stimulus to sales after a sluggish period in the mid-1990s, when many once-dynamic products, notably VCRs and audio-CD systems, reached maturity.
After a slow start, marred by rows over technology and anti-piracy, global sales of DVD-Video have taken off this year.
Mr Hase said that 850,000 DVD-Video players would have been sold in the US by the end of 1998 and nearly 250,000 in Europe. Player sales should have reached 400,000 in Japan, so far the weakest market for the new discs.
The response to DVD-Rom, the computer version of DVD-Video, has been even stronger. Nearly 15 per cent of all new computers will be fitted with DVD-Rom drives this year, according to Mr Hase, and up to 50 per cent next year.
