pianoman41

Just curious, is the DVD nav in the 2002s able to read two layers, i.e. what's the total gig capacity it can access? I'm curious to know if future DVD updates from Acura can eventually include the entire mapped US or is there a space limitation, combined with the POIs.
Matt

thephantom

As far as I know, there is plenty of space on the DVD. Each city and town have to submit their own info and not everyone does. I think the outfit that makes these NAVs charges towns and cities to post their info on the DVD... although I could be wrong. But you get roughly 1.5-2.5 gigs of info on each side of the DVD (can't quite remember exactly) and I have seen CDs (650 MB) with the whole US map on it.

------------------
Those who know, don't talk.

mikester

A single layer, single side of a DVD holds 4.7 GB. I doubt this would be enough for the entire mapped US, expecially considering the address, phone number, and attraction database built into our system.

This is totally speculative, but I doubt it is a double sided DVD player, since it would have to have either 2 lasers in it, or it would have to have some mechanism to flip the DVD to change sides (like the new Sony changers do - way cool!).

It could be multilayer which is much cheaper to do. However, I would be concerned about a multi-layer DVD in a car environment. It is becoming pretty well known that DVDs can suffer "rot", which makes them unreadable in certain areas of the disc. This is due to separation of the 2 layers due to exposure to extreme heat (such as storage in a warehouse). Those who have experienced DVD rot usually see it right around the layer change on movie DVDs. Anyway, given the extreme conditions of a car trunk, I would worry about a multi-layer DVD rotting and becoming unreadable.

thephantom

You're right, Mikester. I forgot about the POIs and phone numbers. Although, I still think you can fit most of the US onto on DVD. Let me do some digging and find out, I will let you guys know.

------------------
Those who know, don't talk.

T Ho

A single layer DVD can hold 4.7GB. A dual layer is 8.5GB. I would suspect that the DVD player in the Navi is dual-layer capable, as I've never seen a player that's not (it's been part of the DVD spec from the beginning).
Take a look at the disc- if it's silver in color, it's single layer. If it's more golden, it's dual layer.

For reference, Microsoft Streets and Trips 2001 contains just about all the data that seems to be included in the Navi system (I don't have Navi, so I'm not totally sure about this), except for phone #s. It maps nearly the entire US (it even sent me down some dirt roads in WV on my way to my parent's house!), and contains all this on 2 CDs. The data itself is only about 700MB.
So, I would venture to say that it would be easy to map out the entire US on a DVD. It is probably the map provider that is lacking, not storage space.

Todd

P.S. I have several hundred DVDs, and I have yet to encounter any rot. There have only ever been a few isolated cases reported, and those were traced back to defective pressings. I would not sweat the rot thing.

DavidV

I just pulled the DVD from my trunk and popped in my PC's DVD drive. There's 3.66GB worth of data on the disc. Although that doesn't answer the original question...

------------------
'02 Satin Silver Metallic Type S w/Navi

thejavagod

Regarding the DVD capacity... I believe for every street there are 100+ parameters to record which includes geometric info, traffic flow info etc. which is why Microsoft Streets is able to put the entire US on a single CD and navi maps cannot fit.

my Lexus RX300 also has a Denso DVD navi in it...the address coverage is far superior (I was even able to find an address out in the boon docks in rural Alabama!!) This is because Lexus has merged Navtech and GDT databases on the DVD. The Acura unit uses Navtech only.

However the Acura alpine unit as a very superior POI database...while Lexus Denso uses only Navtech POI, Acura uses InfoUSA - much much more comprehensive.

From what I've heard Navtech is doing something called "accelerated buildout" which will cover the entire US similar to what Lexus has achieved in their navi system.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by thejavagod on June 07, 2001 @ ]</font>

lonny

Our DVD has no problem storing all of the U.S. with tons of room to spare.

wv5b

I love my Nav unit on my TL-type s;however I was disappointed to see than only the large cities in Texas have all the detailed streets etc. and Poi data base. These cities include Austin, Houston, San antonio, DFW. area. I wished Navtech would make a more detailed DVD that would include any City in Texas with more than 20K population with a POI data base to go with it. I would use thi detailed dvd for 99% of the time and if I took a trip outside Texas I would replace the factory nationwide disc. Smaller states like La, Ak, Ok, could all be linked together as one detailed dvd. The Nav system is one of the main reasons I chose an acura and it is one of the best systems available.