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High Definition Digital Versatile Discs, also known as HD DVDs, are high-density optical discs that can be used for the storage of high-definition videos or other kinds of data. HD DVD was the brainchild of two digital technology companies in digital technology, namely NEC and Toshiba. They introduced the world to HD DVD – the successor to the regular DVD format.

The Sony Corporation released one of the first rewritable discs in October 2000. Following this format, initially nine companies joined up to form the Blu-ray Disc Association. This association was headed by Toshiba and had to decide whether the different companies would opt together for the expensive blue lasers or not. The protective caddy developed for the disc was not only physically different from a normal DVD but was also expensive. Despite this, the association decided to adopt the HD DVD format.

Today there are several variants on the HD DVD disk. Some of the well-known variants on the format are DVD/HD and DVD hybrid discs. These discs are a combination of both a DVD and a HD DVD. This kind of disc can have up to three layers with two layers usable for either format. The advantage of this is that the disc not only carries more data but can also be read by any standard player.

The 3x DVD, HD DVD/ Blu-ray hybrid discs support both Blu-ray and the HD DVD formats. This kind of disc enables the user to store up to three times more data on a single 3x DVD disc, compared to regular writable CDs. HD REC is another format which is mostly used for storing High Definition (HD) content via the regular red laser technology.

The simplicity and reliability of this format has turned it into a popular alternative to regular discs. Currently, the 1.0 version is used for the HD DVD RW and the HD DVD ROM.

The HD DVD ROM generally comes with a storage capacity of about 15GB (single layer) and 30GB (dual layer). A single layer HD DVD RAM enables a user to store as much as 20GB of data on a single disc. It is predicted that in the near future the storage capacity of DVD discs will increase substantially. A good quality and high capacity HD DVD will offer you enough space to store all your important documents, music, movie and game files on a single disc.