by Anton Shilov
01/10/2007 | 09:26 PM
Toshiba Corp., the main driving force behind the HD DVD format in the consumer electronics field, announced at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show advanced HD DVD media that expands capacity to 51GB. Toshiba hopes to approve the new disc and, possibly, start commercial shipments already this year.
The new 51GB HD DVD ROM disc has a three-layer structure, with each layer storing 17GB of data. The advances 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.
The new disc shares the same disc structure as standard DVD and previously announced HD DVD formats: two 0.6-mm thick discs bonded back-to-back. This time-tested physical structure offers proven volume manufacturing at little cost increment, Toshiba said.
Toshiba aims to secure approval of the new disc by the DVD Forum within this year.
Toshiba and MemoryTech already unveiled three-layer HD DVDs back in May 2005. But despite of the claims made then, such discs are still not in production. Moreover it remains uncertain whether content holders truly need 50GB of storage on optical media.
HD DVD format is fighting Blu-ray disc format to replace conventional DVD in the next decade. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers, whereas its arch-competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, though, Blu-ray discs are slightly more expensive to produce. Furthermore, for consumers there is no difference between the standards, as both offer similar image and sound quality.
The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba, Intel, Microsoft and Nec as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony Corp. At present, the Blu-ray is supported by such leading manufacturers as Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Sharp, Sony and others, meanwhile, Toshiba’s HD DVD relies only on the company itself and RCA/Thompson.