Triple-Layer HD DVD Playability An Unknown on Legacy Hardware
Toshiba will “study the performance” of current HD DVD players and recorders with its triple-layer, 51-GB HD DVD after a final version of the disc receives DVD Forum approval as a standard, the company told Consumer Electronics Daily. The Forum’s Steering Committee approved a preliminary version of the single-sided disc Thursday (CED Sept 14 p2).
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“We welcome the DVD Forum Steering Committee’s decision to approve the preliminary Version 1.9 of the physical specifications for the triple-layer, 51-GB HD DVD-ROM disc,” Toshiba said. “This reinforces the fact that the HD DVD is capable of offering a range of capacities due to the flexible nature of te format, and provides studios with even greater options for creating high definition content.”
Toshiba didn’t respond to our question on when it expects to complete testing the new disc for compliance with its first-, second- and forthcoming third-generation set-top players, as well as PC drives. Also unanswered was how HD DVD backers would avoid consumer confusion if the new disc won’t play on legacy hardware but is marketed by movie studios for some titles. We're told players will use new or different optical pickups, with changes to the lens and actuator, in order to read the three layers of 17 GB each. Current HD DVDs have 15 GB each on single or dual layers. Toshiba is the only company with HD DVD players on the market. Shipments have been modest, probably under 500,000 worldwide.
Two forms of triple-layer HD DVDs were approved in the SC voting. The Version 1.9 disc has three HD layers. The other, called “twin format,” has two HD layers and a third for SD-DVD, so studios can offer titles playable in HD DVD hardware and legacy DVD players from a single disc. In an irony, Blu-ray backer Disney voted in favor of both discs. In fact, the 51-GB carriers were developed mostly at Disney’s request, because the studio makes much ado about its needed for disc capacity. Blu-ray companies LG and Samsung also voted in favor of the “twin format” version. Both companies have announced or have begun marketing new dual-format combos that play Blu-ray and HD DVD titles. For reasons that aren’t clear, Samsung abstained from the vote on the Version 1.9 triple-layer HD DVD -- as Blu-ray companies usually do when it comes to HD DVD matters that come before the SC.
As reported here, work on a China-only version of HD DVD progressed in SC voting. And, there may be more welcome news for the so-called CH-DVD format. The China Film Group, a state-owned studio, joined the China High Definition DVD Industry Association on Friday, we were told but unable to confirm. China Film Group also will support Blu-ray in China, with local titles as well as Blu-ray authoring and replication in conjunction with Panasonic, as was announced at IFA in Berlin.