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HD DVD

(1) See also HD DVR. (2) (High Definition DVD) A short-lived, high-capacity optical disc that held four hours of HD video on a single-sided, single-layer 15GB disk. Sanctioned by the DVD Forum...

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Definition: HD DVD

(1) See also HD DVR.

(2) (High Definition DVD) A short-lived, high-capacity optical disc that held four hours of HD video on a single-sided, single-layer 15GB disk. Sanctioned by the DVD Forum in 2003, it gave way to Blu-ray in 2008.

HD DVD was based on the Advanced Optical Disc (AOD) technology from Toshiba and NEC and used a blue-violet laser that read pits half the size of a DVD on tracks packed tighter together. Like Blu-ray, HD DVD supported 1080p resolution and advanced video codecs (see H.264 and VC-1). An advantage for media manufacturers was that, unlike Blu-ray, traditional DVD stamping machines needed only minor modifications to make HD DVDs.

The first HD DVD drives were sold in the U.S. in 2006, and Microsoft offered the drive as an Xbox option. Despite its features and support, in 2008, the majority of movie studios and retail outlets chose Blu-ray over HD DVD, and the "format war" was over.

HD DVD Formats
Used for commercial movies, HD DVD-ROMs were pressed and read only. HD DVD-Rs were recorded once by the user, and HD DVD-RWs were rewritable. Hybrid HD DVDs were announced with HD DVD on one side and DVD on the other. In an attempt to resolve competition, dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray players were also developed (see "Blu-ray History" in Blu-ray). See high-def video formats, DVD and DTV.

 FULL-SIZE HD DVD (120 mm) CAPACITIES
         SINGLE SIDED      DOUBLE SIDED
                   HD                HD
 Layers  Storage  Hours    Storage  Hours
 Single    15GB    4       30GB     8
 Dual      30GB    8
 Triple    51GB   14





THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY
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    Toshiba said Monday it is planning a lineup of products that support the Blu-ray storage format. Toshiba was one of the leading companies behind HD DVD, a standard that lost to Blu-ray. In a...

    Blog posts | August 10, 2009 2:17am PDT

  • HD DVD returns and kicks Blu-ray to the gutter

    Just when Blu-ray thought it had clear sailing, a tempest has risen in the East: China Blue Hi-definition Disk (CBHD). Toshiba has licensed its HD DVD to them and it will be the unit world leader...

    Blog posts | August 3, 2009 3:13pm PDT

  • Hell freezing over? Toshiba set to release a Blu-ray player this year

    The biggest supporter of the HD-DVD format, Toshiba has made no real move to support Blu-ray, which triumphed over HD-DVD as the top high-definition DVD technology. That may be changing, however,...

    Blog posts | July 19, 2009 9:32am PDT

  • Research firm challenges supposed popularity of HD-DVD format

    The recent survey by Harris Interactive, which suggested that HD-DVD continues to be roughly as popular as Blu-ray, has met with some controversy over its methodology. In fact, I received a...

    Blog posts | June 27, 2009 5:30am PDT

  • Holy Betamax, Batman! Blu-ray is still barely beating out HD-DVD

    It appears Blu-ray being the "winner" of the high-def DVD wars early last year hasn't led to mass adoption—or even delivered a knockout blow to the "loser," HD-DVD. According to a study just...

    Blog posts | June 22, 2009 4:48pm PDT

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    Blog posts | March 19, 2009 12:19pm PDT

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    Blog posts | August 18, 2008 2:21am PDT

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    Blog posts | July 3, 2008 10:04am PDT

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    Blog posts | April 11, 2008 3:17am PDT

  • The strange journey of HD disc formats

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    Blog posts | April 1, 2008 9:04am PDT

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    Blog posts | March 20, 2008 8:34am PDT

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    Blog posts | March 19, 2008 4:06pm PDT

  • Best Buy gives poor HD-DVD buyers some gift card balm

    Best Buy said Wednesday that it will send a $50 gift card to any poor soul that bought a HD-DVD player. The tally will run about $10 million in gift cards, says Best Buy in a statement. So if you...

    Blog posts | March 19, 2008 8:03am PDT

  • Two more Microsoft execs fly the coop

    A couple more execs from Microsoft's list of who's who at the company have moved to allegedly greener pastures.

    Blog posts | March 13, 2008 12:46pm PDT

  • Blu-ray player prices spike - wow, who could have seen that one coming?

    I had put myself on a self-imposed exile of sorts on writing about high-def DVDs , but a post over at Tom's Hardware got me all riled up, so I'm lifting the ban. Turns out that since January 1...

    Blog posts | March 13, 2008 8:24am PDT

  • Recession buster: The perfect $25,000 consumer electronics device

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    Blog posts | March 4, 2008 8:34am PST

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