51GB HD-DVD Disc Rivals Blu-Ray Capacity

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tgdaily.com/2007/02/27/hddvd_51gb_disc/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.tgdaily.com/2007/02/27/hddvd_51gb_disc/index.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Further blurring the line of which format is technically superior, Toshiba has announced that it has successfully created a triple-layer HD DVD disc that holds 51 GB of data. It has begun the process of submitting it for regulatory approval. Blu-ray Disc (BD) has been regarded as the winner in terms of capacity since the beginning of the next-generation format war. However, the 51 GB HD DVD would slightly overpower BD, which currently has a maximum capacity of 50 GB. Previously, HD DVDs were only available in 15 GB and 30 GB capacities. Feasibility is a big question, though. It's unclear if the addition of a third layer on an HD DVD would significantly increase mass production costs or time."</i><br /><br />This is more space than my <i>mere</i> 40GB iRiver MP3 player. :) Honestly, I almost wonder what the point is anymore of more space in drives like this. Gaming is one arena that uses large amounts of portable media space, but that will likely be replaced with games being streamed over the network. More and more portable devices (music, general media or computing) are network equipped so the same will happen there. Portable hard drives are getting smaller and have greater capacity. So what else remains? Movies? DVDs already suffice. Sure, Blu-ray or HDDVD allows for more high-definition and extra content but, really, is that the way to go? Flash based storage, IMHO, faster and smaller in size. I feel that I would rather see more research in this arena (and of course in network based data transfers) than fixed media like this. Just a thought.

[PCKid]

I agree. Down here in Western Australia among my group of friends Disc of any kind is a thing of the past. Most of us have an 80 gig 2.5" Notebook drive in a Mediagate MG-25 case which has Component out plus all the relevant support of video, picture and music codecs built in and running software and a remote. So my Plasma in the lounge has one and so does the one in our bedroom. Plus we all have portable notebook drives for swapping stuff and 2 or 4 gig usb plugs for quick exchange etc. With divx in top quality floating around I can't remember the last time I bothered with a DVD or CD disc. I now have at least 1.5 terrabytes of storage and for the future will just keep buying external USB 3.5" external drives for storage till something better comes along. I'm sure that within 5 to 10 years everything will be solid state memory with terrabytes of storage. Music on my 30 gig Ipod. Plus I take my PSP to work to watch shows during my lunch break. Discs. Yuk!! :)

[Philip Colmer]

A few counter-points to think about:

1. Backup of harddrives. I've also got a huge amount of physical disc space now but I'm worried about it dying on me. Being able to archive my video projects onto optical disc gives me a safety net. I could archive across multiple DVDs but the ability to just have one that holds the entire project means that I could then have two discs (one for another backup) and peace of mind.

2. High capacity optical discs could be good for TV series. At the moment, you can only get 3-4 episodes on a disc. A higher capacity disc should allow you to put more onto a disc with, hopefully (although unlikely), a cost reduction for the consumer.

3. The recent bypassing of the AAC protection has led to some movies being made available by BT but at 15GB each, I wonder how many of them are actually being copied? If the size of the data was to double or triple, would the number being copied fall further?

4. Don't forget that higher TV resolutions are already being talked about. This will require more optical space. I have yet to be convinced that physical media is going to die, so we'll need something to buy those Quad-HD movies on :).

--Philip

[PCKid]

I agree to a point with what you are saying. But with a rack of say 250GIG External HDs what are your really important files. For me the Dcuments folder houses them all. That is Docs, photos, music, video and outlook.pst backup. Currently that folder sits at about 120 gig. So I have it backed up over 3 drives. Main one in PC and 2 backups on different drives. Back in the mid 90s I backed all that up to blank CDs. Most of those will now no longer load or be recognised after a mere decade. So how future proof is anything really? How long do you want to keep it all? After 2 decades will there be anything out there that will read ext HDs, currrent DVDs, Bluray or otherwise. My guess is probably not. 2 decades ago we were backing up to 5.25" floppies or 3.5" inch floppies if we were at the leading edge of technology :). So providing I can keep it all for 10 years I reckon I will have done well but I somehow doubt it. Come back here in 10 years and tell me how much of what you are saving now you still have.. We will probably be talking to each other in the same room as a hologram I'll bet.