HD-FVD
The High Definition Finalized Versatile Disc , abbreviated to HD-FVD , often also called Forward Versatile Disc , is a DVD format developed in Taiwan that offers a slightly higher storage capacity than a normal DVD.
Like China with its EVD , Taiwan has developed its own DVD format with HD-FVD in order to avoid the high licensing costs of MPEG-2 . The disc is physically based on a normal DVD-ROM , but thanks to a technology similar to that of Plextor's “GigaREC” and Sanyo's “HD-Burn” , it holds 5.4 GB of data instead of the normal 4.7 GB (DVD5) or instead of 8.5 GB (DVD9) 9.8-11 GB of data. Microsoft's WMV9 (under the name VC-1 ) is used as the video codec, as is possible with HD DVD and Blu-ray (in addition to the more common options MPEG-2 and H.264 ) . The audio format is WMA9 .
Like a DVD, the HD-FVD uses a red laser (wavelength 650 nm), which is cheaper than the blue laser used by Blu-ray and HD DVD.
HD FVDs are available in three different versions:
- Single Layer (5.4 GB)
- Double Layer (9.8–11 GB), as well as
- Triple Layer (15 GB).
The HD-FVD was developed by AOSRA (Taiwan A dvanced O ptical S torage R esearch A lliance), an association of many Asian companies developed.
Just like the EVD , the FVD is forecast to have little success by experts outside of their home country, as no well-known western film studio has yet relied on the format and the copy protection is unlikely to be as effective as with HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc .