TOKYO: Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp. and optical disc maker Memory-Tech Corp. have jointly developed a single-sided three-layer ROM disc that supports high capacity storage and playback of content in both DVD and HD DVD formats.
The disc joins the family of DVD Twin format discs, which the companies had developed earlier, supporting both DVD and HD DVD content. The earlier single-side two-layer discs had hit the market in April. Toshiba and Memory-Tech plan to propose the new format to the DVD Forum, the industry body that defines DVD standards, and will make the product commercially available in early 2007.
The new format increases disc capacity and expands versatility with a three-layer structure offering support for two HD DVD layers and one DVD layer or two DVD layers and one HD DVD layer. The DVD layer is closest to the pickup. The farthest layer is for HD-DVD content. The middle layer can be used for either DVD or HD-DVD content.
According to a press statement by the two companies, in a two-layer HD DVD configuration, the new Twin disc has a 30 GB HD DVD capacity and 4.7 GB of DVD capacity. If configured to maximize standard DVD content, the disc can support 8.5 GB on two layers, plus 15 GB of HD DVD content on the third layer. While DVD content can be played on standard DVD players, HD DVD players can play both the formats.
Toshiba and Memory-Tech had proposed the single-sided, dual-layer Twin format to the DVD Forum in 2004 as a transitional format. One of the advantages of the format has been that it supports both standard definition and high definition versions of a movie, allowing users to play it on available DVD players and to enjoy high definition version once they upgrade to an HD DVD player.
The first generation Twin discs had a lower capacity -- 15 GB of HD DVD content and 4.7 GB of DVD content, the only disadvantage. The three-layer disc meets the requirements of movie studios and software companies for higher capacity as it offers double the maximum capacity for each format.
The new disc also maintains two defining features of the HD DVD format -- low cost and highly efficient manufacturing process, the latter developed by Memory-Tech and which adds an additional process to form the third layer, which is done on the same disc replication machines that can be used for DVD and HD DVD mass production.
