Report Writing

Sample 1: DVD Technology and Applications

Transmittal letter. The transmittal letter (or memo) is typically attached to the front cover of the report. If the front cover has an inside pocket, the transmittal letter can be placed there. The letter can refer to some prior agreement, provide a descriptive overview of the contents of the report (almost identical to the descriptive abstract on the title page), and encourage the recipients to get in touch if necessary. For convenience's sake, technical-writing instructors request that the transmittal letter be made the first (but unofficial) page of the report. Title page. The title page is the first official page in the reportit's the first page you see when you open the report. However, sometimes the transmittal letter is placed inside the report, as the first page, to keep it from getting lost or damaged. Notice that the title page contains the descriptive abstract, which is an almost word-for word copy of the summary of contents in the transmittal letter. Reports typically contain a lot of this sort of repetition to ensure that readers see the main points, however they read the report. Table of contents. After the title page, the next page in the report is the table of contents (TOC). Notice the contents of this TOC: it lists the first-, second-, and third-level headings that occur in the report, along with the abstract and the information sources. Notice the format: the first-level headings are in all caps; the second- and third-level headings use headline-style caps; notice also how they indented in relation to each other. And finally notice the leader dots that guide the eye out to the page numberthe page on which the section starts. Note: Disregard the different font for the table of contents and list of figures. It's used to get the leader dots to align on these web pages. In your own hardcopy reports, use the same font for your table of contents and list of figures as you do for regular body text. List of figures and tables. After the TOC comes the list of figuresand, in this report, the list of tables. This can include tables and any other sort of non-textual material. The standard design is to center the words LIST OF FIGURES (in all caps) at the top of the page. The actual list uses two column headingsFigure and Pageinitial cap and centered over their respective columns. In the figure list, you needn't include the entire figure title, just enough that is grammatically complete. Abstract (informative). The next page (or pages) in the report is the informative abstract, also called the "executive summary." Note very carefully the difference between the descriptive and informative abstracts. This informative abstract summarizes the key facts and conclusions contained in the report. The descriptive abstract, on the other hand, just gives you a teaser as to the report's purpose and topics covered. Introduction. The introduction is the first main body section of the report. Notice the format just about the "INTRODUCTION" heading. You see the full title of the reportjust as it appears on the title page. Notice the contents of the introduction. It begins with some background as to the situation out of which this report arose. The second paragraph narrows in on the problem that is the focus of this report, while the rest of the paragraph indicates the purpose of the report and provides a quick overview of its contents. Keep these essential elements of introductions in mindsubject matter, background, purpose, audience, and overview of contents. While the specific audience of this report is not stated, the background that readers need to understand is made clear. Main text of the report. Notice how the discussion in the body of this report proceeds: first we have a general definition-type discussion of DVD technology. Following that, we have physical description of DVDs, which

includes a comparison of DVD and CD-ROMto show off the advantages of DVD. Having established this basic information, the writer moves on to a discussion of the applications of DVD and its market potential. First-level headings. As the online textbook chapter on headings emphasizes, first-level headings are used only in longer, more complex documents such as this one. Notice the format of the first-level heading: it's bold, all-caps, and centered. Notice too that first-level headings always begin a new pageindicated here by horizontal line across the page). Second-level headings. If you think of the first-level heading as the roman-numeral parts of an outline, the secondlevel headings are like the capital-letter items, one level lower in the outline. Notice that they use headline-style caps: that is, the initial letter of all main words (except for prepositions and words like a, an, and the. Third-level headings. If you think of second-level headings as the capital-letter items in a traditional outline, thirdlevel headings are like the arabic-numeral items in the outline, one level lower. Notice their format: they use sentence-style caps, that is, first letter of the first word is capitalized only. Notice that they are bold and are punctuated with a period. And finally notice that they "run in" to the paragraphbut are not a grammatical part of that paragraph. Page numbering. Numbering pages in a report may seem strange, but it is the traditional way. Notice that all pages before page 1 of the introduction use lowercase roman numerals. All pages beginning with page 1 of the introduction use arabic numerals. Although styles vary, this report put all page numbers at the bottom center of the page. Notice that page numbers are not shown on some pages, such as the title page, first page of the introduction. Illustrations. Note that illustrations are placed at the points where they are referenced in the reportnot all at the end. Try to intersperse text and graphics to give your pages variety and to give your readers relief from long dense pages to straight text. Notice the format of the figure titles. The figure number is followed by a brief descriptive title and, if the figure is borrowed, some information about the source of the figure. Source citations. Notice the bracketed numbers occurring throughout the report. These indicate the source of borrowed information, at each point where it is borrowed. Go to the end of the report to see what the various sources are. For example, the citation [4:1] means that the information in that section of the report came from page 1 of source 4. Scroll to the information-sources section of the report to see what source 4 is. Information sources. At the end of the report is the list of information sources. This report uses the number system in which the sources are numbered. These numbers are used along with page references in the body of the report to indicate the source of borrowed information. Notice several things about this list: the items are in alphabetical order with last name first; first main word of the title is used in no author name is available; book and magazine names are in italics; article titles use quotation marks. That completes the comments for this example.

11355 Research Boulevard, Suite 305 Austin, TX 78759 December 9, 1998 Mr. David A. McMurrey Technical Research Associates, Inc. 1307 Marshall Lane Austin, TX 78705 Dear Mr. McMurrey: In keeping with our agreement, I am submiting the enclosed report entitled Report on DVD Technology and Applications. As we agreed, the purpose of this report is to provide potential investors with introductory information on DVD technology and applications. The report provides an explanation of the differences between CD and DVD technology. Additionally, the report describes the construction of a DVD and summarizes applications of the DVD. We conclude with an overview of past and projected sales and revenues of DVD media. I hope this report meets with your expectations. Respectfully,

Thurston Taylor Encl.: Technical background report on DVD technology

Report on DVD TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS submitted to Dr. David McMurrey Technical Research Associates, Inc. 1307 Marshall Lane Austin, TX 78705 May 6, 1998

by Thurston Taylor E. Taylor, Consultants

This report examines digital versatile disc (DVD) technology as a possible avenue for research and development. DVD technology is described, and it characteristics are compared with those of CD. Product development and economic forecasts conclude the main discussion of the report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ABSTRACT . . I. II. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii iv 1 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 12

DVD TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Development of DVD Technology . CD-ROM and DVD Comparison . . . Physical Characteristics . Data Structure Characteristics Operating Characteristics . III. CONSTRUCTION OF A DVD DVD Development Process Physical Formatting Glass Mastering Metallization . Electroplating . Molding . . . Sputtering . . Bonding . . . Current DVD Research DVD APPLICATIONS DVD-ROM . . DVD-Video . . DVD-Audio . . DVD-R . . . DVD-RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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DVD PROJECTED SALES AND REVENUES

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CONCLUSION

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INFORMATION SOURCES

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. DVD Comparison . . . Data Structures . . . Physical Formatting . Glass Mastering . . . Metallization . . . . Electroplating . . . Molding . . . . . Sputtering . . . . Bonding . . . . . Homes with DVD Technology DVD Disc Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 10 11

LIST OF TABLES Table 1. 2. CD-ROM vs. DVD Specifications DVD Player Sales to Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 14

iii ABSTRACT Digital versatile disc (DVD) is a collection of new optical disc technologies that have the potential to significantly improve the quality of a number of consumer electronic and personal computer products. DVD was invented and tested by Toshiba Corporation to fulfill two primary goals: (1) to provide higher throughput and (2) to provide higher capacity than current CD-ROM technology. A digital versatile disc is similar in many ways to the current CD; however, small differences between the two allow for DVD to be implemented in ways that a DVD cannot. These differences allow for a capacity increase of of up to 26 times and transfer rates up to 4 times faster than conventional CD-ROM. The major difference that provides these increases is the use of a shorter wave-length laser, which allows for decreased tolerances in the manufacturing process and the use of multiple layers of storage on each side of the disc. While surface storage

is vastly different from that used in CD technology at the microscopic level, the advances allow the DVD to be the same exact size as the CD-ROM. These advances brought about by DVD open up a wealth of products and possibilities in modern applications. Current applications include DVD-video, which is capable of displaying broadcastquality feature-length movies on the surface of a single disc, and DVD-ROM, which can be used in computer applications to provide higher throughput and higer storage capacity on a single disc. Other applications, already developed but not in widespread use, include DVD-audio, highcapacity, high-quality audio disc; DVD-R, a write-once DVD format for high-capacity data storage in computing applications; and DVD-RAM, a multiple read-write format also used for high-capacity storage in computing applications. iv

With the current base developed in DVD-video and DVD-ROM markets, familiarity with the technology increases exponentially every month. This coupled with lower prices brought about by manufacturing process refinements has caused a surge in DVD device sales worldwide. The current projections forecast DVD sales overtaking those of CD technology within the next two years, providing millions of dollars in revenues for corporations poised to release DVD format in consumer products.

v Report on DVD TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION Digital Versatile Disc, or DVD is a collection of new optical disc technologies that have the potential to significantly improve the quality of a number of consumer electronics and personal computer products. These discs are capable of holding up to 17 gigabytes (GB) of data storage,

with current research offering a potential for 15 times more storage. This technology is made available through advances in laser technology and advances in manufacturing processes for optical discs. A Digital Versatile Disc is basically a double density, double sided, compact disc. In addition, the laser used to read a DVD utilizes a shorter wavelength, allowing the storage surface of each of these layers to be more compact. The purpose of this report is to present the format, creation, current applications, and economic forecasts for DVD technology. To emphasize the advances afforded using this technology, a side by side comparison with current Compact Disc technology will be used. Motorolas Research and Development is currently investigating the possibilities for implementation of a DVD Group to interact with current research and product groups. This report will give the introduction and background necessary to determine the feasibility of DVD integration into current marketing and research products. This report will provide a simplified explanation of the construction methods required for DVD replication, solely for the purpose of presenting the difference in construction needed to manufacture a DVD.

The four parts of this report will discuss (1) a technological overview of DVD, utilizing a comparison of CD vs. DVD technologies, (2) the construction of a DVD, (3) current applications utilizing DVD, and (4) projected sales and revenues of DVD devices. The technological overview section will use a comparison of current CD specifications vs. DVD specifications to convey the advances made possible using DVD. The construction section explains the manufacture of a DVD to show the physical advantages of DVD for data storage and retrieval. The section covering current applications examines the five current formats for DVD specifications and how they are currently being used today. Finally, the sales and revenues section includes forecasts of DVD sales and distribution, based upon current sales and technology release.

2 II. DVD TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW Before getting into the details of manufacturing DVDs and their applications and market potential, consider their basic construction and comparisons to CD-ROMs.

DVD Development Process Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) technology was pioneered in 1993 by the Toshiba Corporation to fulfill two primary technical goals, provide both higher throughput and higher capacity than current CD-ROM technology. While DVD optical discs are quite similar to CD-ROM optical discs, there are a number of key physical differences, as well as philosophical differences. CDROM technology was originally designed to accommodate high quality audio data, and a large quantity of textual data. While the use of CD-ROM has been extended to include video data, the format falls short of providing broadcast television quality video and cannot store full-length feature films. The DVD format was specifically designed to address each of these limitations. Beyond the inception of DVD technology, advances have been developed by a group of ten consumer electronics companies, called the DVD Forum, who have agreed on the set technical specifications for each DVD format. Until recently, there were two competing groups of companies: one led by Sony, and the other by Toshiba, that were both trying to develop proprietary high-density optical disc formats. Fortunately, these two groups joined forces and agreed to form the DVD Forum. The DVD Forum has also actively encouraged participation from members of the entertainment and computer industries so that the DVD format will have a broad base of support in both the consumer and computer electronics areas. As mentioned before, two of the primary goals of DVD are to provide both higher capacity and higher throughput than current CD-ROM technology offers. To demonstrate the advances afforded using DVD, this section will reference the specifications of CD-ROM vs. DVD technology. 3

CD-ROM vs. DVD Comparison The table on the following page shows some of the key similarities and differences between the CD-ROM and DVD formats. Table 1. CD-ROM vs. DVD Specifications. Source: "DVD: The Dawn of a New Generation." July, 1998. Computer User Category Disc Diameter Disc Thickness Disc Structure CD-ROM 120 mm 1.2 mm Single Substrate DVD 120 mm 1.2 mm Two Bonded 0.6 mm Substrates

Laser Wavelengths Track Pitch Shortest Pit Length Data Layers Data Sides Data Capacity User Data Rate

780 nm (infrared) 1.6 microns 0.83 microns 1 1 650 Mbytes 1.4 Mbits/sec

650 and 635 nm (red) 0.74 microns 0.4 microns 2 2 4.7 17.0 GB 10.0 Mbits/sec

The key features, which comprise the difference between CD and DVD technologies, are the physical characteristics, data structure characteristics, and operating characteristics. 4

Physical Characteristics. The physical characteristics of the optical discs including thickness, diameter and structure are nearly identical, with the only exception being the DVD possessing a double substrate with half the thickness of a conventional CD. This allows multiple layers of data to be stored within the same thickness of a conventional CD single layer, as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. DVD Comparison. Source: Smith, James. DVD Handbook, p. 19. Data Structure Characteristics. The data structure characteristics of the optical discs include laser wavelength, track pitch, and pit length. All of these characteristics differ from CD to DVD and allow for the significant improvements in data capacity and throughput seen in the DVD operating characteristics. Using a red laser for DVD devices vs. a standard infrared laser used for current CD devices, provides a much smaller wavelength, allowing better selectivity and smaller data structures, as seen in Figure 2. Data can be stored in half the length previously necessary using conventional CD technology. 5

Figure 2. Data Structures. Source: Smith, James. DVD Handbook. p. 22. Operating Characteristics. The advances provided by the shorter wavelength laser and multilayer structure, exponentially increase the throughput of DVD devices vs. CD devices. All DVD formats and playback devices will support a minimum throughput rate that is eight times faster than conventional CD-ROM, and many DVD playback devices will support even higher transfer rates. In addition, by doubling both the number of layers and the number of sides utilized, capacity of DVD has been increased to a maximum of 17.0 GB of memory, compared to 650 (megabytes) MB of storage on a standard CD-ROM, an increase of more than 26 times the capacity.

III. CONSTRUCTION OF A DVD DVD construction is similar to traditional CD-ROM construction with a few added steps, and a much higher degree of manufacturing tolerance required. Process in DVD Construction Each of the following major manufacturing steps will be presented using an explanation followed with a diagram to show the actual progression of the disc construction: Physical formatting. Analog signal is converted to a digital signal and compressed using DVD compression standards, then stored for transfer onto the DVD.

Figure 3. Physical Formatting. Glass mastering. A glass base is coated with light-sensitive photoresist, which is then developed in a sodium silicate solution, using a laser to implant the digital signal.

Figure 4. Glass Mastering 7

Metallization. Nickel is evaporated on the surface of the master, providing a conductive layer for the electroplating phase.

Figure 5. Metallization. Electroplating. A wet process in which the master is bathed in nickel sulfamate and a stamper is applied to create the pattern required for multiple disc replication.

Figure 6. Electroplating Molding. The previously created master is used as a base, giving a pattern pressed onto an injection molded polycarbonate substrate.

Figure 7. Molding 8

Sputtering. Similar to semiconductor sputtering, a metal layer is formed on the surface, aluminum for single layer, gold or silicon carbide for dual layer discs.

Figure 8. Sputtering. Bonding. Multiple layers are bonded together using either hot melt or ultraviolet processes. This bonding requires extreme precision to prevent the DVD from becoming unbalanced.

Figure 9. Bonding. The above processes provide the DVD with a variable number of readable substrates, allowing a maximum of two substrates per side, with a maximum of two sides. This manufacturing process is not a large departure from conventional CD-ROM manufacturing processes, requiring higher tolerances in the mastering phases of the process, addition of gold and silicon carbide in the sputtering process, and the addition of a bonding process.

Current Research Ongoing research in Tokyo performed by the Agency of Industrial Science and technology has led to advances producing a DVD capable of holding 15 times as much data as current DVDs. This high memory density is achieved by adding an additional antimony film to the DVD, pinpointing the laser beam allowing up to 30 hours of moving images to be stored, using conventional DVD devices for playback [4:1].

10 IV. DVD APPLICATIONS Given the technological advances made over CD-ROM, the applications for DVD are able to replace all conventional applications for optical disc use. Use of DVD is currently divided into five separate applications using six different DVD formats.

DVD-ROM. High-capacity, high-throughput, read-only optical disc that can be used as a general-purpose computer storage device. This application is currently the most prevalent, with disc storage ranging from 4.7 to 17.0 GB, depending on format. DVD-Video. High capacity, high throughput, read-only optical disc that can be used for the interactive playback of high quality video, audio and graphic content. This application, similarly uses disc storage ranging from 4.7 to 17.0 GB, depending on the format. DVD-Audio.Similar to the DVD-Video, differing only in the compression and storage of audio, rather than video. DVD-R. High capacity, high throughput, write once, optical disc used as a generalpurpose computer storage device. This application currently is formatted to hold 3.8 GB of storage per side, although current advances promise to achieve 4.7 GB per side. DVD-RAM. High capacity, high throughput, read-write, used as a highly versatile storage medium for computers and other devices. This application currently uses its own format, allowing 2.6 GB of storage per side.

11 V. DVD PROJECTED SALES AND REVENUES The international Recording Media Association (IRMA) recently released its "Optical Media Intelligence Report" which forecasts annual worldwide DVD replication of 1.28 billion discs by the year 2002, including all of DVDs formats [7:12]. The following graph demonstrates the projected distribution of DVD playback devices, given the current trends and affordability of the devices.

Figure 10. Homes with DVD Technology As shown in figure 10, the distribution of DVD devices is growing exponentially, with the largest growth year occurring in 1999. A recent survey has found that DVD technology awareness in the public has grown from 18% in November 1997 to 49% in April 1998. This greater awareness has brought about large increases in player purchases followed by even greater sales of discs, primarily movies, as shown in the following graph, depicting DVD movie sales (yellow) combined with DVD-ROM sales (red).

Figure 11. DVD Disc Production 12

In addition, the Electronic Industries Association of Japan forecasts the market for DVD movie players worldwide will expand to 11.53 million units in 2002 from the 796,000 units sold in 1997. This represents a 71 percent annual growth on average during the period [8:5] . The International Recording Media Association predicts this growth will also propel the demand for DVD-Video product, increasing the number of stores selling or renting the new format from 5,000 outlets at the end of 1997, to more than 32,000 by the end of 1999 [7:15]. A Forrester Research study recently reported that DVD technology could eventually turn the home PC into a primary home entertainment platform [4:12] . The report projects the DVD will displace the television as the focal point for electronic recreation. The study also predicts the PC industry growth to surpass the consumer electronics industry by the year 2000 [4:15].

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The development of DVD technology requires a relatively small capital investment in comparison with the potential revenue, which could be generated through product sales, as shown in the table below.

Table 2. DVD Player Sales to Dealers. Source: Consumer Electronics Manufacturing Association DVD Report, p. 35. Year 1997 1998 Unit Sales (Thousands) 350 750 Dollar Sales (Millions) $170 $326 Average Unit Price $485 $435

14 VI. CONCLUSION In conclusion, this report gives the initial introduction to DVD technology required to determine whether to implement the technology in Motorola products in the future. Given the ease of implementation of this technology and potential growth in sales and revenues, DVD technology promises to afford many avenues of implementation. These implementations range from current video, audio, and computer applications to household combination cable modem and large data storage units for combined application in multiple use consumer electronics devices. Beginning research as soon as possible could yield consumer product rollout in as soon as 12 months time. Given the expansion and partnerships forged by Motorola with other corporations and our current standing in the communications world, the implementation of DVD technology in our products beginning in 1999, will provide a large share of the market share during a period of extreme market growth.

15 INFORMATION SOURCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Boeler, Kurt. "DVD Systems Expanding." CNET-NEWS.COM. May 29, 1998. Crawford, Albert. Complete Guide to DVD. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. "DVD: The Dawn of a New Generation." Computer User. July 1998. "DVD Gaining Momentum." USA Today. August 24, 1998. "DVD Technology Advance." Dow-Jones News. June 19, 1998. "DVD." Encarta Encyclopedia. 1998 Ed. International Recording Media Association. "Optical Media Intelligence Report." July 1998. 8. Electronic Industries Association of Japan. "Optical Media Report." San Diego, CA: Toshiba Press, 1998. 9. Taylor, Jim. DVD Demystified: Guide for DVD-Video and DVD-ROM. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 16

Reference: http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/models.html#technical_reports