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DVD Forum Approves Triple-Layer HD DVD Media – Research Firm.

Category: Storage

by Anton Shilov

[ 09/09/2007 | 11:45 PM ]

Several years after the first introduction, triple-layer HD DVD have been approved by DVD Forum, according to a statement by a market research firm. The extension of the HD DVD standard will allow adopters of the format to record 51GB of data on one disc, which is slightly more compared to dual-layer Blu-ray disc capacity.

According to a news-story published by ScreenDigest market research agency, the DVD Forum, the international DVD standards authority, has approved a 51 GB single-sided triple-layer HD DVD disc for production. Extension to the HD DVD standard, which was submitted by Toshiba in April, received approval on 31 August 2007. Toshiba itself or DVD Forum have not issued any press releases on the market.

The new 51GB HD DVD ROM disc has a three-layer structure with each layer storing 17GB of data, which is an advancement in capacity over current ROM discs, which hold 15GB of data in each layer of a single-sided disc. Continued improvement in disc mastering technology has achieved further minimization in the recording pit, supporting a further boost in capacity to 17GB in single layer and a full 51GB on a single-sided triple-layer disc. Toshiba has confirmed the disc structure and its successful operation earlier this year.

“The approval of Toshiba’s 51 GB disc is good news for the HD DVD camp, allowing it to compete directly with rival Blu-ray Disc’s (BD) dual-layer 50 GB disc. As with the BD50, it is likely to take some time for production yields to reach a commercially viable level. However, once this has been achieved it will arguably eliminate one of the principle reasons behind some studios’ support of Blu-ray over HD DVD, thus potentially making it easier for Disney or Fox to adopt a format-agnostic position without losing face,” a statement by ScreenDigest reads.

It remains to be seen whether triple-layer HD DVDs are more cost-efficient compared to dual-layer Blu-ray discs both in terms of media costs as well as replications costs. Moreover, neither Toshiba, nor DVD Forum have confirmed that triple-layer HD DVDs will playback on existing HD DVD hardware, such as players and computer drives. It is also unclear when movie studios plan to start using 51GB discs and whether there will be noticeable improvements of quality or the amount of content loaded.