Toshiba Unveils Desktop HD DVD Drive

Toshiba, who is one of the leading supporters of the HD-DVD format, today unveiled its latest HD DVD writer the SD-H903A. HD DVD as it is widely known, is a next generation format that allows you to store professional high-definition content creation and create vast digital content repositories for movies, music and photos. The SD-H903A is a full-featured drive, which allows you to store nearly 30 GB of data on dual-layer discs, which can accommodate up to eight hours of HD DVD movie content, up to five full-length standard DVD films, up to 7,500 MP3 songs or up to 30,000 high-quality images.

Apart from the HD DVD support, SD-H903A provides read and write support for legacy formats and is therefore backwards compatible. Another interesting point to note is that unlike conventional writers which are available on the PATA interface, the SD-H903A features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface thereby eliminating the need for legacy cables.

"Toshiba is leading the transition to next-generation DVD technologies with an easy-to-use, low-cost solution for professionals and consumers looking to create and enjoy high-definition content, while still offering access to current audio CD and DVD libraries," said Scott Maccabe, vice president and general manager, Toshiba Storage Device Division. "HD DVD adoption is growing rapidly in all applications — from gaming to A/V editing. With its remarkable resolution, higher storage capacity and interactive offerings, HD DVD brings a superior media experience to consumers. Toshiba’s new writer will greatly transform current PC offerings."

This new drive will be showcased at the upcoming CES conference to be held in Las Vegas. The drive will be available commercially from February 2007 onwards.