HD DVD

Associated With

Toshiba; format standardized by the DVD Forum - creator or operator

Defining Feature

A blue-violet-laser optical disc with a DVD-like bonded polycarbonate structure

Status

Discontinued: Toshiba announced withdrawal from HD DVD players and recorders on 19 February 2008, aiming to cease those businesses and volume drive production by the end of March.

Overview

HD DVD arrived in 2006 as Toshiba’s high-definition optical-disc format and a successor to DVD.

Its players also handled conventional DVDs, while approved HD DVD-ROM discs stored 30 GB. Second-generation hardware supported high-definition output, advanced audio, pop-up menus and picture-in-picture features.

The format competed for the market for high-definition films on disc. In February 2008, Toshiba announced that it would stop developing, manufacturing and marketing its HD DVD players and recorders, while continuing product support.

Why It Mattered

It became one side of a highly visible format battle in which choosing a player also meant choosing which future discs would work at home. Studios released films and Toshiba produced multiple generations of hardware, but the company ended the business in 2008, giving the format an unusually abrupt finish.

HD DVD Disc Structure

• HD DVD used two 0.6 mm polycarbonate layers bonded back-to-back, matching the basic structure of DVD.
• The DVD Forum approved 30 GB HD DVD-ROM discs, with capacity enabled by a shorter-wavelength blue-violet laser and data processing.

Toshiba Player Features

• Toshiba's 2006 U.S. launch models were the HD-XA1 and HD-A1.
• Second-generation models supported high-definition output, advanced audio, pop-up menus and picture-in-picture features, while also playing conventional DVD media.

Withdrawal in 2008

• On 19 February 2008 Toshiba said it would no longer develop, manufacture or market HD DVD players and recorders.
• The company aimed to cease those businesses and volume production of PC and game drives by the end of March 2008, while continuing product support.

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