HD DVD HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format. On 19 February 2008, after a protracted format war with rival Blu-ray, Toshiba abandoned the format, announcing it would no longer manufacture HD DVD players and drives. The HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved on March 28, 2008. The HD DVD physical disc specifications (but not the codecs) were still in use as the basis for the
Optical disc drive maximum speed (56× for CDs or around 18× in the case of DVDs) at which drives can operate. Current optical drives use either a "tray-loading" mechanism, where the disc is loaded onto a motorized or manually operated tray, or a "slot-loading" mechanism, where the disc is slid into a slot and drawn in by motorized rollers. With both types of mechanism, if a CD or DVD is left in the drive after the computer is turned off, the disc cannot be ejected using the normal eject mechanism of the drive. However, tray-loading drives account for this situation by providing a