September 11, 2006

Toshiba develops Hybrid DVD and HD-DVD

by Dhiram Shah

Toshiba in collaboration with Memory Tech Japan have succesfully combined a HD-DVD and DVD to a single 3 layer twin format disk. The resulting disc conforms to DVD standards and can be played on DVD players as well as standard HD-DVD player too with a firmware upgrade. The resulting DVD disc will have Single Layer DVD (4.7GB) + Dual Layer HD DVD (30GB) and Dual Layer DVD (8.5GB) + Single Layer HD DVD (15GB). The disc can be produced on the existing HD-DVD mass production line with minor process additions.

With identical manufacturing process Toshiba plans the new 3 layer discs in the market very soon. However no exact release date and pricing is provided.