TOKYO, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Toshiba and Japan's Memory-Tech diskmaker say they have developed a disk that combines a standard DVD with a new high-definition format.
Known as HD-DVDs, the new format will be able to hold about three times as much data as DVDs now available, giving enough room for hours of high-definition video, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. They will be read with a blue laser, while regular DVDs use a red laser.
One layer of the new disk is in standard DVD format, which holds 4.6 gigabytes of data, while the other layer will be in the 15-gigabyte HD-DVD format.
Such a combination of formats lets film studios put a movie in DVD format on one side and, on the other side, in HD-DVD format.
It also eases the transition to the new format since consumers who don't have new HD-DVD players could still use the new combination disks on their old DVD players.
