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![]() Data side of an HD DVD | |
Media type | High-density optical disc |
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Encoding | VC-1, H.264, and MPEG-2 |
Capacity | 15 GB (single layer) 30 GB (dual layer) |
Read mechanism | 405 nm laser: 1× @ 36 Mbit/s & 2× @ 72 Mbit/s |
Write mechanism | 405 nm laser: 1× @ 36 Mbit/s & 2× @ 72 Mbit/s |
Developed by | |
Usage | Data storage, 1080p high-definition video |
Extended from | DVD, DVD-Video |
Released | March 31, 2006 |
Discontinued | March 28, 2008 (1 year, 11 months and 28 days) |
Optical discs |
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HD DVD (short for High Density Digital Versatile Disc)[1] is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video.[2][3][4][5][6] Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format, but lost out to Blu-ray, which was supported by Sony and others.
HD DVD employed a blue laser with a shorter wavelength (with the exception of the 3× DVD and HD REC variants), and it stored about 3.2 times as much data per layer as its predecessor (maximum capacity: 15 GB per layer compared to 4.7 GB per layer on a DVD). The format was commercially released in 2006 and fought a protracted format war with its rival, the Blu-ray Disc. Compared to the Blu-ray Disc, the HD DVD was released earlier by a quarter year, featured a lower capacity per layer (compared to 25 GB of Blu-ray), but saved manufacturing costs by allowing existing DVD manufacturing equipment to be repurposed with minimal modifications, and movie playback was not restricted through region codes.[7]
On February 19, 2008, Toshiba abandoned the format,[8] announcing it would no longer manufacture HD DVD players and drives.[2] The HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved on March 28, 2008.[9]
The HD DVD physical disc specifications (but not the codecs) were used as the basis for the China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD) formerly called CH-DVD.
Besides recordable and rewritable variants, a HD DVD-RAM variant was proposed as the successor to the DVD-RAM and specifications for it were developed,[10] but the format never reached the market.
The manufacturing process of HD-DVD requires little new investment to existing DVD processes, making the format cheaper to the consumer.
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