Toshiba Announces 51GB HD DVD

Much has been said about the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war (too much possibly) but capacity is one area that seems to have slipped from the limelight. Not anymore.

Seven whole months ago Toshiba announced the first triple layer 45GB HD DVD disc. It was a prototype and it hasn’t popped out onto retail shelves yet but Tosh has decided to go one better anyway with a confusing 51GB disc.

I say confusing because the reality of HD DVD up to this point has been that the format can hold 15GB of data on each layer, hence: single, dual and triple layers being 15GB, 30GB and 45GB respectively. This now appears to have all changed with Tosh patenting a new design which is capable of holding 17GB per layer, so now we’ll get 17GB, 34GB and 51GB discs. Will they be compatible with existing players? Who knows? Tosh isn’t saying a thing.

At this time we don’t have the slightest clue when a 51GB HD DVD may turn up on the market (or a 17GB or 34GB disc for that matter) but with dual format players beginning to appear and compatibility being this year’s buzzword I can honestly say quite frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
PS – Yes, that is the best picture we’ve got so far!
http://www.trustedreviews.com/storage/news/2007/01/11/Toshiba-Announces-51GB-HD-DVD/p1

Big Friggin' Deal.

Blu-ray's capacity is 25 GB per layer with test media up to 33 GB per layer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

:P