HD DVD
Forgotten Technology · 2006
Published
HD DVD arrived in 2006 as Toshiba’s answer to the demand for high-definition films on disc. Its players could also handle conventional DVDs, while approved dual-layer HD DVD-ROM discs stored 30GB and supported more advanced interactive features. For buyers, it looked like the next physical step beyond DVD—until the market chose a rival format.
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.
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.
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.
End
- 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.
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 ended player, recorder and drive development and production in 2008
Primary Records
Image Sources
- All one image sources are not yet verified — editorial review required.
Rights Notice
Images are included for historical and archival reference.
Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.
Gallery
Credit
Andreas -horn- Hornig; photograph improved by Michael "Blacky" Ritter / HDTVTotal.com; CC BY-SA 2.5 / GFDL
Caption
A Toshiba player and demonstration discs show HD DVD as a complete home-video system during the competing high-definition formats era.