Toshiba Storage Device Division has unveiled at CES the world's first half-height HD DVD writer which that can read and write to single- and dual-layer HD DVD-R discs, providing high-definition video editing and content creation capabilities on desktop systems and media centers.

Like the company's slim-line HD DVD writer launched in 2006, the new SD-H903A provides read and write support for legacy formats, CD and DVD along with high-definition DVD.

With dual-layer discs, HD DVD provides 30GB of storage capacity, which can accommodate up to eight hours of HD DVD movie content with extended cuts and interactive features, up to five full-length standard DVD films, up to 7,500 MP3 songs or up to 30,000 high-quality images.

The HD DVD driver specifications have left some industry practitioners unimpressed, though, compared to the Blu-ray burners. 1x speed HD DVD burning means a slow 55-minute writing time for 15GB and nearly two hours for 30GB. There is also no HD DVD-RW support for burning and reading. They also note slow DVD burning speeds.

Toshiba has also demonstrated at CES its new Qosmio audio-video notebook computer with integrated HD DVD-R optical drive, the first notebook computer with the ability to burn HD DVDs.

Story filed 08.01.07