A new format of DVD has been successfully introduced in Scandinavia and Iceland as well as in several other European countries. Movies are now being offered on the new format, known as DVD-D, which, according to Afterdawn.com is the first to offer self erasing disks.
Italy, Germany and France join Scandinavia in being among the first to sell the new DVDs. The DVD-D format includes a built in timer which automatically erases the contents of the disc a predetermined time after its first use. DVD-Ds containing software will self-erase 48 hours after their first use, while DVD-Ds with movies can be programmed to erase only eight hours after they are first played.
The format is becoming increasingly popular and is already being offered at bookstores, petrol stations and convenience shops. The main benefit of the DVD-D format is its price: most DVD-Ds are approximately a third of the costs of their DVD counterparts.
Blank, writable DVD-Ds are also available for purchase. The disks can be written up to 8x speed and DVD-5 capacity and according to one of the companies producing the disks, allow the client to “specify how long the data is to remain, having the option of one-time viewing only, or a time period of 8 hours, 48 hours or otherwise.”
Although it remains to be seen if the disks will add any extra protection against those users who copy the data to their computers for their own use, the new format does have the advantage of being fully recyclable.