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Tokyo (Japan) - In a joint project, Memory-Tech and Toshiba today announced that the two firms have developed a one-side, three-layer disc for both DVD and HD DVD formats. The new technology will pave the way to higher capacity hybrid storage on a single disc.

The new disc is an addition to Toshiba's existing DVD TWIN format, which support both DVD and HD DVD storage types. The three-layer discs will allow for either two HD DVD layers and one DVD layer, or two DVD layers and one HD DVD. When configured to the former, close to 35 GB can be stored (30 GB of HD DVD and 4.7 GB of SD DVD). Alternatively, the technology can also accommodate a dual-layer DVD (8.5 GB) and one HD DVD layer (15 GB).

According to Toshiba, The TWIN format was created so that consumers could have both the standard definition and high definition versions of a movie on a single disc. Ideally, then, videos can be played on DVD and HD DVD players.

With the three-layer discs, companies can take better advantage of the DVD TWIN technology, either offering extra HD DVD or regular DVD content. Previously, the TWIN discs allowed solely one layer of each format. The TWIN format has yet to be widely accepted, though some companies have found a niche with it, like Japan's Pony Canyon, who has released titles on the format since April. A likely cause of the slow growth of the TWIN format is the fact that HD DVD itself has yet to see a significant penetration among normal consumers.