Toshiba Brings HD DVD Write Drive to Desktop PCs

Toshiba today brought the wide ranging capabilities of HD DVD to
the desktop PC with the announcement of a standard height HD DVD drive
able to read and write to HD DVD and to standard DVD and CD discs.
Sample shipments of the new drive, SD-H903A, are scheduled to start
this month.

The new SD-H903A integrates a blue-violet laser diode that can
read and write to HD DVD-R discs and that offers support for
high-density HD DVD-ROM discs, including high definition movie and
video images. The drive also offers all the functionality of a super
multi-drive, with high performance, high-speed read and write to all
flavors of standard DVD and CD discs.

The new drive takes full advantage of the shared physical
structure of HD DVD discs and standard DVD discs, which allows it to
read and write to HD DVD-R discs, to read the diverse line-up of discs
in the HD DVD-ROM disc family, including twin format disc and
combination discs, and to read and write to standard DVD and CD discs,
using an optical pick-up head with only a single objective lens.

The new drive is also fully compliant with the EU's RoHS
directive, which came into force in July 2006.

Toshiba will feature the new drive at the International Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8 to
11, at the Toshiba booth (booth 12832) and the HD DVD Promotion Group
booth (booth 7914).

Background

The growth of digital terrestrial broadcasting, increasing
consumer demand for large screen, high definition TVs and for HD
camcorders are all spurring demand for the ability to record
high-definition visual content using the optical drive of a PC. On top
of this, the HD DVD-R disc is expected to play a major role in large
capacity data storage. Against this background, Toshiba has developed
a standard height HD DVD write drive for desktop PCs that will allow
users to use the advanced capabilities of HD DVD to the full. Toshiba
will continue to develop HD DVD drives and contribute to market
penetration of the HD DVD format.

Main specifications

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Model name SD-H903A
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Write
HD DVD-R SL(1): 1x; HD DVD-R DL(1): 1x

DVD-RAM: Max. 3x; DVD-R SL(1): Max. 8x

DVD-R DL(1): Max. 2.4x; DVD-RW: Max. 4x

DVD+R SL(1): Max. 8x; DVD+R DL(1): Max. 2.4x

Read/Write Speed DVD+RW: Max. 4x; CD-R: Max. 16x

CD-RW: 4x; High Speed CD-RW: Max. 10x

Ultra Speed CD-RW: 10x

Read
HD DVD-R SL(1), DL(1): 1x; HD DVD-ROM: 2.4x

DVD: Max. 8x; CD: Max. 24x
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Interface S-ATA
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Buffer capacity 8MB
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Power source +5V, +12V
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Operating temperature 5-50 degrees C (excluding media)
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External dimensions 146mm x 41.5mm x 184 mm
(W x H x D)
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Weight 830g typical
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*T

(1) SL: single layer: DL: dual layer