Comparison of high definition optical disc formats Blu-ray disc players since the end of the format war. Blu-ray Disc has a higher maximum disc capacity than HD DVD (50 GB vs. 30 GB for a double layered disc). In September 2007 the DVD Forum approved a preliminary specification for the triple-layer 51GB HD DVD (ROM only) disc though Toshiba never stated whether it was compatible with existing HD DVD players. In September 2006 TDK announced a prototype Blu-ray Disc with a capacity of 200GB. TDK was also the first to develop a Blu-ray prototype with a capacity of 100GB in May 2005. In October 2007 Hitachi developed
Optical disc corresponding disc player. For computer data backup and physical data transfer, optical discs such as CDs and DVDs are gradually being replaced with faster, smaller solid-state devices, especially the USB flash drive. This trend is expected to continue as USB flash drives continue to increase in capacity and drop in price. Additionally, music purchased or shared over the Internet has significantly reduced the number of audio CDs sold annually. The first recorded historical use of an optical disc was in 1884 when Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter recorded sound on a glass disc using a beam