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DVD and Video Formats
Ready for more DVD formats?
Just as we are starting to be comfortable with the current DVD formats, there are more on the way! Here is a brief look at what we can expect next in the realm of DVD formats.
HD DVD
HD DVD(High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is supported by NEC, Toshiba, Sanyo and Microsoft. It is one of the front runners of the race for high-definition DVD.
The disc has a single layer capacity of 15 GB and a double layer capacity of 30 GB. One thing to note is the layer of a HD DVD has the same thickness as a conventional DVD, which is 0.6mm. What is the significance you might ask? It allows replication facilities to use some of the existing equipment to manufacture the new discs. HD DVD players will also be able handle both conventional and HD DVD. HD DVD players will also use some of the same technology as existing DVD layers. All of these give HD DVD an edge over competitor Blu-Ray with its significant cost advantage.
Microsoft has announced that XBOX 360 will support HD DVD, but not for the launch for later this year. It will ship with a conventional DVD drive, and when HD DVD format is ready, it will be incorporated in the game console.
Blu-ray DVD
Backed by Sony and Philips, a Blue-ray DVD will fit 25 GB on a single layer, 50 GB on a double layer. It will also include support for multi-layer discs, which allows up to 200 GB of storage in the future. A 25 GB disc will store approximately about 2 hours of high definition video footage.
Blu-ray DVD is so called because it uses a "blue" laser operating at a shorter wavelength than a conventional and a HD DVD. The result is a disc of higher density and thinner layers.
The thinner layers pose both pros and cons to the new format. It requires brand new manufacturing equipment but it allows for its higher capacity of data.
The anticipated Sony Playstation 3 will ship with a read-only Blu-ray disc drive. Both new formats are backed by major film studios. Sony Pictures, MGM, 20th Century Fox and Disney have so announced support for Blu-ray, while HD-DVD has New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers as backers.
UMD
Universal Media Disc (UMD) is a proprietary format developed by Sony for the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP). It is 65 mm in diameter and holds up to 1.8 GB of data. It can store up to 2 hours of DVD quality video. As of this time blank media of this format is not available for piracy reasons. The UMD comes in a protective cartridge and is able to store games, videos and music.
Dual Disc
"DualDisc" is a two sided disc which is a DVD on one side of the disc and non-DVD (which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a CD side) on the other side of the disc. Sounds like a great concept doesn't it? It however has its own shares of troubles. Officials at Philips Intellectual Property & Standards (IP&S) which licenses the Compact Disc or CD format, have refused to license the CD logo to companies making or releasing Dual Disc products on the grounds that they do not meet the Compact specifications. The non-DVD side of the dual disc will hold up to 60 minutes of audio, and the DVD side is a single layer DVD.
Because of this limitation, a few CD players manufacturers have provided some guidance to questions regarding dual discs. Mostly the non-DVD side of dual discs is not guaranteed to play due to the specification issues with Compact Disc.
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