At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Toshiba announced that it had developed a high-capacity HD DVD disc capable of storing 17GB on each of three disc layers, for a grand total of 51GB. It was good news for the HD DVD camp; before January, HD DVD storage capacities were 15GB and 30GB on single and dual-layer HD DVD discs, respectively. The DVD Forum has now signed off on Toshiba's technology, approving the new disc for public use.
The move past 50GB is a big step for HD DVD. The overall storage capacity of the standard hasn't changed much since it was first spoken of as a Blu-ray rival in 2003 with its 15GB-per-layer storage. In 2005, there was talk about a 45GB three-layer HD DVD disc, but it never came to fruition. Back in 2003, Blu-ray was limited to 27GB per disc, but over time it has achieved its current storage capacities of 25GB and 50GB on single and dual-layer discs, respectively.
|