UMD

 

UMD (Universal Media Disc)

A UMD
Media type:	Optical disc
Capacity:	900 MB (single layer), 1.8 GB (dual layer)
Developed by:	Sony
Usage:	Games, movies, music

Optical disc authoring
Optical disc Optical disc image Optical disc drive Authoring software Recording technologies Recording modes Packet writing
Optical media types
Laserdisc Compact disc/CD-ROM: CD-R, CD-RW MiniDisc DVD: DVD-R, DVD-D, DVD-R DL, [[DVD+R]],  [[DVD+R DL]], DVD-RW, [[DVD+RW]],  DVD-RW DL, [[DVD+RW DL]], DVD-RAM Blu-ray Disc: BD-R, BD-RE HD DVD: HD DVD-R, HD DVD-RW, HD DVD-RAM UDO UMD Holographic data storage 3D optical data storage History of optical storage media
Standards
Rainbow Books File systems ISO 9660 Joliet Rock Ridge Amiga Rock Ridge extensions El Torito Apple ISO9660 Extensions Universal Disk Format Mount Rainier

The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on the PlayStation Portable. It can hold up to 1.8 gigabytes of data, which can include games, movies, music, or a combination of these. It is considered the first optical disc format to be used for a handheld video game system.

Overview

Specifications

ECMA-365: Data Interchange on 60 mm Read-Only ODC – Capacity: 1.8 GB (UMD™)^[1]

• Dimensions: approx. 65 mm (W) × 64 mm (D) × 4.2 mm (H)
• Maximum capacity: 1.80 GB (dual layer), 900 MB (single-layer)
• Laser wavelength: 660 nm (red laser)
• Encryption: AES 128-bit

Regions

DVD region coding has been applied to most UMD movies, although this restriction mechanism is not required for game releases, developers do have the ability to encode games, although very few do.

• Region 0: Worldwide (in-flight-movies, cinemas, ferries, etc.)
• Region 1: United States, Canada
• Region 2: European Union, Japan, Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
• Region 3: Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore
• Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Mexico, South America
• Region 5: Russia, Eastern Europe, Pakistan, India, the majority of Africa, North Korea, Mongolia
• Region 6: Mainland China

Digital Rights Management

In an effort to combat piracy and maintain exclusive control, the UMD Disk format is proprietary, and neither blank media nor media writers are available to the public.

Applications

The primary application for UMD discs is as a storage medium for PSP games, although the format is also being used for the storage of motion pictures, and to a lesser degree, television shows for playback on the PSP. The video is encoded in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format, with the audio in ATRAC3plus.

The BBC began releasing a number of its TV titles on UMD in the UK, including The Office, Doctor Who and Little Britain.

Some adult films have been released on UMD in Japan.^[2] Sony does not officially approve of such content, however, the enormous market in Japan for these releases is supporting the PSP's sales. Sony has thus refrained from taking action.

Circumvention

Despite Sony's efforts, the UMD format has been cracked. Using a combination of unsecure firmware and reverse engineering, the Sony PSP can now use a variety of homebrew games, and backup ISO images. Each disc uses a file system whose format follows the ISO 9660 standard. The ISO image can then be stored on a Memory Stick, and run via a special disc emulator program, such as Devhook. The ISO images cannot be burned to UMD discs as UMD writables and burners are not available. The same game will load much faster when stored as an ISO image on a Memory Stick when compared against the original UMD.

Sony has attempted to halt this type of exploitation by updating the firmware. Versions 1.51 and later of the PSP firmware have attempted to patch the exploit. Recent games also come with a 'software switch' that force users to update before the game can be played. This has also been circumvented: some applications for 1.50 report the firmware version as being more recent than it actually is, or firmware spoofing, bypassing the need to update. This has since been fixed by Sony and no longer works. Firmware versions 1.5 to 3.71 have been decrypted and 1.50, 2.71, 3.02, 3.03, 3.10, 3.30, 3.40, 3.51, 3.52, 3.60 and 3.71 have been converted into custom firmwares. These firmwares allow people to run ISOs that they own from their XMB interface in addition to other homebrew available.

Criticism

Although the UMD discs offer large capacity and the capability to store quality audio/video content, the format's proprietary nature and the lack of writers and blank media have spawned criticisms. Comparisons to Sony's MiniDisc format have brought forth further criticisms; for instance, the sliding shield which prevents direct disc contact on MiniDiscs is absent from all UMDs released to date, though it is an option according to the ECMA specification.^[1]

For security reasons, and to protect DVD sales, Sony had no plans to support UMD playback on normal televisions.^[3] This feature has now been added to the newer PSP-2000 model series, which can output at a resolution of 480p using proprietary component cables (sold separately) which should increase the sales of UMD format movies. The PSP-1000 series cannot output to a TV set without either a third-party modification that requires the removal of the faceplate among other hardware modifications, or a device such as the Nyko PSP-to-TV adapter that uses a CCD camera to display the PSP screen on a TV using RCA connectors. It has yet to be seen if such products will help poor UMD movie sales.

The smaller capacity of the UMD discs necessitates that bonus content from DVD releases be removed in large part or entirely before the movie is released on UMD for PSP playback. This has made the UMD movie releases a difficult sell in the face of affordable portable DVD players that can output to TV sets and can play the full-featured DVD releases. UMD movie pricing was also originally higher than DVD pricing, although UMDs have largely fallen to a more reasonable price. Due to the slow sales of UMD movies, some retailers, such as Tower Records, began offering incentives on UMD purchases, such as “buy one, get one free” deals.

In February 2006, Paramount Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, and even Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced that they were cutting back releases for the PSP, citing disappointing sales of about 50,000 per title.^[4] In March 2006, Reuters reported that Wal-Mart was considering abandoning sales of the format, and that Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Image Entertainment had ceased production.^[5][6] Other studios have reportedly terminated their production to the format as well.

In mid-2006, Target began pulling UMDs from shelves and replacing them with a section of independent movies selected by the Independent Film Channel.^[7] While not yet effective at all stores, the response from the corporation was that the UMDs will be shipped back to distribution centers to fulfill online orders through the Target website.^[8] PSP games on UMD discs will be unaffected by this change and will still be carried by all Target stores.

In September 2006, a lower pricing on 22 movies led to a tenfold increase of sales in Japan, suggesting one of the main causes of slow sales was the high price tag.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Ecma International (June 2005). Data Interchange on 60 mm Read-Only ODC—Capacity: 1,8 Gbytes (UMD™) (PDF).
2. ^ PSP procures porn in Japan. GameSpot.com (June 2, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
3. ^ Taylor, Jim; Johnson, Mark R.; Crawford, Charles G. [2006]. DVD Demystified, third edition, McGraw-Hill: New York, 9:71. 
4. ^ Michael Kwan (February 17, 2006). Sony PSP UMD movie sales not so hot. mobilemag.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
5. ^ Thomas K. Arnold (March 30, 2006). Sony's Universal Media Disc facing last rites. Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. (Archive)
6. ^ UMD about to be ditched by Wal-Mart?. Engadget (March 30, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
7. ^ Target Rep Confirms: UMDs "Discontinued" Nationwide. GamePro.com (July 19, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
8. ^ Target shifts UMD space to DVD. Video Business (July 20, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
9. ^ UMD price drop leads to sales jump in Japan. Engadget (September 7, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.

External links

• The Digital Bits Guide to UMD Movies including a list of movies available on UMD
• UMD Talk contains UMD articles, news, resources & technical details.
• Sony PSP Movie Sales Strong Article on the (shortlived) early success of movie sales on UMD from MP3 Newswire
• Breaking news: Sony's UMDs aren't selling well News story about the disappointing UMD sales.
• UMD Movie Database

Industrial & home video media
Magnetic tape	Analog VERA (1952) • 2 inch Quadruplex videotape (1956) • 1 inch type A videotape (1965) • 1/4 inch Akai (1967) • U-matic (1969) • Cartrivision (1972) • Video Cassette Recording (aka VCR) (1972) • V-Cord (1974) • VX (aka "The Great Time Machine") (1974) • Betamax (1975) • IVC 2 inch Helical scan (1975) - 1 inch type B videotape (1976) • 1 inch type C videotape (1976) • VHS (1976) • VK (1977) • SVR (1979) • Video 2000 (1980) • CVC (1980) • VHS-C (1982) • M (1982) • Betacam (1982) • Video8 (1985) • MII (1986) • S-VHS (1987) • Hi8 (1989) • S-VHS-C (1987) • W-VHS (1994) Digital D1 (1986) • D2 (1988) • D3 (1991) • D5 (1994) • Digital Betacam (1993) • DV (1995) • Digital-S (D9) (1995) • DVCPRO (1995) • DVCAM (1996) • HDCAM (1997) • DVCPRO50 (1998) • D-VHS (1998) • Digital8 (1999) • DVCPRO HD (2000) • D6 HDTV VTR (2000) • MicroMV (2001) • HDV (2003)• HDCAM SR (2003)
Optical disc	Analog Laserdisc (1978) • Laserfilm (1984) • CD Video (1986?) Digital VCD (1993) • MovieCD (1995?) • DVD-Video (1995) • MiniDVD • CVD (1998) • SVCD (1998) • FMD (2000) • EVD (2003) • HVD (2004) • FVD (2005) • UMD (2005) • VMD (2006) • HD DVD (2006) • Blu-ray Disc (BD) (2006) • DMD (2006?) • AVCHD (2006) • Tapestry Media (2007) • Total Hi Def (2008) • HVD (TBA) • PH-DVD (TBA) • SVOD (TBA) • Protein-coated disc (TBA) 3D disc (TBA)
Grooved Videodiscs	Analog Baird Television Record aka Phonovision (1927) • TeD (1974) • Capacitance Electronic Disc aka CED (1981) • VHD (1983)

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