HighMAT Spec Extended to DVDs

Panasonic and Microsoft announced plans to expand the HighMAT specifications to support writable DVD formats and ship the technology in their respective lines of hardware and software.

HighMAT, or High-performance Media Access Technology, defines a standard method for organizing photos, videos and music, in order to allow consumers to better access digital media when away from the PC. Currently, devices such as car stereos and DVD players must search an entire disc to find digital media, causing significant delays.

With additional backing from Fujifilm, HighMAT was initially announced last October, but supported only writable CDs at the time.

"DVDs are the storage media of the future, and as usage grows, adding HighMAT support will offer consumers better, more predictable navigation and performance on consumer electronic devices," said Amir Majidimehr, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Digital Media Division.

Roxio, maker of the popular Easy CD & DVD Creator suite, announced intentions to support HighMAT in future software revisions. Windows Media Player 9 and Movie Maker 2 already support the standard, and Microsoft has released an update for Windows XP that enables drag-and-drop burning of HighMAT CDs.

The first consumer electronics devices to support HighMAT 1.0 will debut this month from Panasonic. Newer models will support HighMAT on DVD once the specification is completed later this year.