LESSON 44

DVD TECHNOLOGY [4]

Task 1. Read and translate the text:

Задание 1. Прочитайте и переведите текст:

DVD is sometimes called «Digital Versatile Disc» or «Digital Video Disc». It is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. DVDs resemble compact discs as their physical dimensions are the same — 12cm in diameter but they are encoded in a different format and at a much higher density, using the Universal Disk Format (UDF) file system.

In the early 1990s two high density optical storage standards were being developed: one was the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density Disc (SD), supported by Toshiba, Time-Warner, Matsushita Electric, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Pioneer, Thomson, and JVC. Later IBM's president, Lou Gerstner, acting as a matchmaker, led an effort to unite the two camps behind a single standard, anticipating a repeat of the costly format war between VHS and Betamax in the 1980s.

Philips and Sony abandoned their MMCD format and agreed upon Toshiba's SD format with two modifications that are both related to the servo tracking technology.

The first DVD players and discs were available in November 1996 in Japan, March 1997 in the United States, 1998 in Europe and in 1999 in A ustralia. The first DVD movie appeared in 1996. The movie had the first test for 2.1 surround sound. In 1999 Independence Day was the first movie to introduce 5.1 surround sound.

By the spring of 1999 the price of a DVD player had dropped below the US $300. As a result Wal-Mart began to offer DVD players for sale in its stores.

As of 2006 DVD sales make up the bulk of gross sales and VHS is a slim minority. The price of a DVD player has dropped significantly. Many modern computers are sold with DVD-ROM drives stock.

Task 2. Answer the following questions:

Задание 2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What is DVD?

2. Do DVDs resemble compact discs?

3. What file system format is used in a DVD disc?

4. What is MMCD?

5. What is SD?

6. What companies supported high density optical storage standard SD?

7. What companies supported high density optical storage standard MMCD?

8. When did the first DVD players and discs become available?

9. When did the first DVD movie appear?

10. Why did Wal-Mart begin to offer DVD players for sale in its stores only in 1999?

Task 3. Find the English equivalents for the words and word — combinations given below in the text:

Задание 3. Найдите эквиваленты следующих слов в тексте:

Оставлять, сохранение, иметь сходство, звук, независимость, включать, размеры, имеющийся в наличии, видоизменение, одинаково.

Task 4. Translate the following words and word — combinations into Russian:

Задание 4. Прочтите следующие слова и словосочетания и переведите их на русский язык:

optical disc, storage, data storage, including, physical dimensions, high density, support, a matchmaker, effort, to unite, abandoned, related to, the servo tracking technology, available, appeared, to introduce, bulk, minority.

Task 5. Make the sentences interrogative:

Задание 5. Поставьте следующие предложения в вопросительную форму:

1. The first DVD players and discs were available in November 1996 in Japan, March 1997 in the United States, 1998 in Europe and in 1999 in A ustralia.

2. The price of a DVD player has dropped significantly.

3. The first DVD movie appeared in 1996.

4. In the early 1990s two high density optical storage standards were being developed.

5. The movie had the first test for 2.1 surround sound.