Pioneer Electronics is aiming to reduce confusion in the DVD rewritable market by incorporating support for several major formats with its next-generation drive.

The Long Beach, Calif.-based electronics maker will announce Monday that its sixth-generation drive, the DVR-A06, will arrive in the United States in June. The drive will retail for $329 and support DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, CD-R and CD-RW. The DVD+RW format includes support for DVD+R media. The DVR-A06 will be for use inside PCs; an external version, which can be connected to a PC via a cable, will likely follow in three months to four months, said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Pioneer Electronics.

"The market has been confused," said Parsons, referring to the confusion the incompatible DVD rewritable formats may have caused in consumers. "We're hoping that by changing our strategy, we can help grow the market and ease customer confusion."

Parsons said that Pioneer is not joining the DVD+RW Alliance but is paying royalties to the group to use the DVD+RW format. He would not comment on the amount of those royalties.

Pioneer's drive supports 4x DVD+R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 4x DVD-R, 2x DVD-RW, 16x CD-R and 10x CD-RW.