Learn About HD-DVD Media Specifications
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Learn About HD-DVD Media Specifications
Based on DVD technology
DVD and HD DVD share the same basic disc structure: back-to-back bonding of two 120mm diameter substrates, each 0.6mm thick. As a result, HD DVD combines advanced capabilities with essential backward compatibility. The HD DVD standard clearly promotes early and cost efficient disc and hardware production, and assures quality, availability, and marketability.
HD DVD and DVD specification
| DVD | HD DVD | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disc type |
DVD-ROM (Read-Only) |
HD DVD-ROM (Read-Only) |
HD DVD-R (Recordable) |
HD DVD-Rewritable (Recordable) |
| Disc diameter | 120mm | 120mm | 120mm | 120mm |
| Disc structure |
0.6mm x 2 substrates |
0.6mm x 2 substrates |
0.6mm x 2 substrates |
0.6mm x 2 substrates |
|
Capacity (Single-sided, single-layer) (Single-sided, dual-layer) |
4.7GB 8.5GB |
15GB 30GB |
15GB |
20GB 32GB(Under development) |
|
Playback time* Recording time* |
4.7GB, SD resolution: 132minutes 8.5GB, SD resolution: 238minutes |
15GB, HD resolution: over 4 hours 30GB, HD resolution: over 8 hours |
15GB, HD resolution: over 4 hours |
20GB, HD resolution: over 5.5 hours 32GB, HD resolution: over 8.5 hours |
| Laser Wavelength |
650nm (red laser) |
405nm (blue laser) |
405nm (blue laser) |
405nm (blue laser) |
|
Compression technology |
MPEG-2 |
MPEG-4 AVC/ VC-1/MPEG-2 |
MPEG-4 AVC/ VC-1/MPEG-2 |
MPEG-4 AVC/ VC-1/MPEG-2 |
| User bit rate | 11.08Mbps | 36.55Mbps | 36.55Mbps | 36.55Mbps |
| Track pitch | 0.74µm | 0.40µm | 0.40µm | 0.34µm |
*Playback or recording time depends on data transfer speed.
Comparison of HD DVD and DVD disc structures
Huge storage capacity of HD image
-
A 15GB HD DVD disc has sufficient capacity for a movie and bonus content, all at HD quality, with space to spare.
-
A 30GB disc can deliver three 150-minute movies, offering the perfect way to store movies and their sequels on a single disc—
with all the vibrancy of HD image quality. - Most TV series are brought to DVD in boxed sets. But the ability to store 48hours of SD quality video on one 30GB HD DVD adds up to whole seasons of your favorites TV drama on a single disc. Plus added extras.
- Alongside superb image quality, HD DVDs add another capability to long performances: superior sound quality.
Blue laser diode for high-density recording
The blue laser that reads and writes to HD DVD has a shorter wavelength than DVD's red laser. Even though DVD and HD DVD share the same disc structure, the blue laser's shorter wavelength translates into an HD DVD storage capacity dwarfing that of DVD. Single-sided, single-layer DVDs can hold 4.7GB of data. The single-sided dual-layer HD DVD-ROM surpasses that 6.2 times with its 30GB capacity.
Data processing with minimal noise
The latest advance in signal processing, partial response and maximum likelihood (PRML), minimizes noise problems resulting from playing high-density data.
Sophisticated video compression technology
In addition to DVD's MPEG-2, HD DVD players also recognize both MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 based on Microsoft's Windows Media. The excellent efficiency of MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 allow image data to be compressed to about one-third the size achieved by MPEG-2 and replay of high quality digital images.
36Mbps rate for high-definition images from digital TV broadcasting
With a transfer rate of 36.55Mbps, HD DVD disc drives outperform the 24Mbps maximum transfer rate of digital TV broadcasts. As a result, high-definition images can be recorded and played back, for many hours of viewing pleasure.