hardware:form-factors
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| hardware:form-factors [2026/10/13 00:48] – fixed details in iD Photo entry hbm | hardware:form-factors [2026/10/30 19:46] (current) – partial rewrite (4) hbm | ||
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| ====== Form Factors ====== | ====== Form Factors ====== | ||
| - | Many different implementations of Disc-Based Enclosed Media (DBEM) have been developed over the previous decades; some achieved fairly high market share, while others barely made it to production. These devices range in size from just over an inch (~30 mm) to over 12 inches (~300 mm), with the smaller formats typically used for consumer electronics and home computers, while the larger formats were primarily utilized in medical, industrial, and other enterprise contexts. | + | Many different implementations of Disc-Based Enclosed Media (DBEM) have been developed over the previous decades; some achieved fairly high market share, while others barely made it to production. These devices range in size from just over an inch (~30 mm) to over 12 inches (~300 mm), with the smaller formats typically used for consumer electronics and home computers, while the larger formats were primarily utilized in medical, industrial, and other enterprise contexts. The below sections group the various formats based on the diameter of the inner recording medium, as is the convention. |
| - | ---- | + | ^ Format |
| + | | [[hardware: | ||
| + | | Unnamed Sony / Sharp Disk | 50.8 mm (2 in) | 1 GB | 1995 | Unknown | ||
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| - | ===== DataPlay | + | ===== Micro Disks ===== |
| - | | + | Micro disks have a recording medium with a diameter of significantly less than 90 mm (3-1/2 in). These disks are mostly found in the consumer electronics and portable media industries, with some gaining wide appeal in their respective markets, while others faded into obscurity just as soon as they entered the market. |
| + | |||
| + | **DataPlay** | ||
| * The smallest commercial example of DBEM | * The smallest commercial example of DBEM | ||
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| * Very few devices utilized the format | * Very few devices utilized the format | ||
| * Only produced in a single capacity (500 MB) and only produced by one company ([[reference: | * Only produced in a single capacity (500 MB) and only produced by one company ([[reference: | ||
| + | * Outer Casing: 41 mm × 33.5 mm × 3 mm | ||
| + | * Phase-Change, | ||
| - | ==== Identification ==== | + | **Unnamed Sony / Sharp Disk** |
| - | * Metal shutter with DataPlay branding | + | * Jointly developed by Sony and Sharp(([[https:// |
| - | * Translucent | + | * Not released commercially |
| - | * Very small size | + | * Capacity of 1 GB was shown in prototype stills, 2 GB and 4 GB versions were planned |
| - | * Visible inner disc | + | * Very similar in appearance, medium |
| + | * Outer Casing: 58 mm × 54 mm × 4 mm | ||
| + | * Magneto-Optical, | ||
| - | ==== Dimensions ==== | + | **iD Photo** |
| - | * Outer Casing: | + | |
| - | * Inner Media: 32 mm (1-1/4 inch) | + | * Market failure as they were quickly discontinued and only compatible with a single camera |
| + | * Only produced in a single capacity (730 MB) | ||
| + | | ||
| + | * Magneto-Optical, Rewritable | ||
| - | ==== Technology ==== | + | **Universal Media Disc (UMD)** |
| - | * Phase-Change | + | * Fairly popular format, limited to early Sony PSP devices |
| - | * Multi-session | + | * Partially enclosed casing, medium could be damaged if care wasn't taken with carts |
| - | * WORM | + | * Single-layer (900 MB) and Dual-layer (1.8 GB) disks were produced |
| + | * Videogames, Movies, TV shows, and music videos were sold in the UMD format | ||
| + | * Outer Casing: 64 mm × 63 mm × 4.2 mm | ||
| + | * Pre-pressed, | ||
| - | ---- | + | **MiniDisc (MD) Family** |
| - | ===== iD Photo ===== | + | * |
| + | * Outer Casing: 70 mm × 67.5 mm × 5 mm | ||
| - | * [[hardware: | + | ===== Small Disks ===== |
| - | * Very small DBEM format focused on consumer camera market | + | Small disks consist of a number of formats, all with a recording medium of around 90 mm (3-1/2 in). Most formats had similar dimensions to a 3-1/2 in floppy diskette, but were usually thicker. While some of the formats were used in various enterprise, industrial, and medical fields, they were most often used by consumers for general file storage. |
| - | * Market failure as they were quickly discontinued and only compatible | + | |
| - | * Only produced in a single capacity | + | |
| - | ==== Identification ==== | + | **Sony HS** |
| - | * Metal shutter with yellow iD Photo branding | + | * Proprietary Sony format |
| - | * White plastic casing | + | * Similar in size to a 90 mm ISO disk |
| - | * Red write protection swtich | + | * Only available in 650 MB capacity |
| + | * Magneto-Optical, | ||
| - | ==== Dimensions ==== | + | **90 mm ISO** |
| - | * Outer Casing: 56.5 mm × 59.5 mm × 4.8 mm | + | * The most common and widely adopted variant in the consumer market |
| - | * Inner Media: 50 mm (~2 inch) | + | * Typically used for storing computer files and backups |
| + | * More popular in Asian markets than in North America | ||
| + | * Available in capacities from 128 MB to 2.3 GB | ||
| + | * Magneto-Optical, | ||
| - | ==== Technology | + | ===== Medium Disks ===== |
| - | * Magneto-Optical | + | Medium disks all have a recording medium with a diameter of around 130 mm (5-1/4 in) with many different form factors, recording technologies, |
| - | * Rewritable | + | |
| - | ---- | + | **Phase-change Dual (PD)** |
| - | ===== Universal Media Disc (UMD) ===== | + | **DVD-RAM** |
| - | The Universal Media Disc was developed by [[reference: | + | **Panasonic Advanced |
| - | Unlike most other DBEM formats, UMD is a read-only, pre-pressed format: discs are stamped at the factory like a CD or DVD, and consumer drives cannot record to them. Besides games, Sony and several studios released movies, TV episodes, and music videos on UMD. The format faded quickly as downloads took over, and the digital-only PSP Go (2009) dropped the UMD drive entirely. | + | **130 mm ISO** |
| - | ===== MiniDisc (MD) ===== | + | * The most common and widely adopted variant in industrial and enterprise environments |
| + | * Typically used for storing documents, backups, medical information, | ||
| + | * Available in capacities from 600 MB to 9.1 GB | ||
| + | * Magneto-Optical, | ||
| - | Introduced by [[reference: | + | ===== Large Disks ===== |
| - | ===== MiniDisc Data (MDD) ===== | + | Large disks are any format with a recording medium of 200 mm (8 in) or larger. The vast majority are around 300 mm (12 in), although formats with 355 mm (14 in) recording mediums were also present. |
| - | MD Data was Sony's 1993 adaptation of the MiniDisc for computer storage, offering about 140 MB per disc. It uses the same cartridge and 64 mm disc as audio MD, but the format is not interchangeable with audio MiniDiscs, and MD Data drives were sold in limited numbers. Sony later revived the idea with Hi-MD (2004), which raised capacity to around 1 GB and allowed general-purpose data storage alongside audio. | + | * [[hardware: |
| - | ===== 3.5 in / 90 mm ===== | + | * The 2nd largest commercial examples of DBEM |
| + | * Many different manufacturers, | ||
| + | * Typically for enterprise or medical facilities | ||
| - | Of the different DBEM formats, 3.5 in (90 mm) was probably the most widely adopted in the consumer market. It did not see much use in Western countries, while it became relatively popular in some Asian markets (such as Japan). Cartridges have similar dimensions to a 3.5 in floppy disk, but they are about twice as thick. Capacities ranged from 128 MB to 2.3 GB across generations, | + | ==== Identification ==== |
| - | ===== 5.25 in / 130 mm ===== | + | * Casing around ~13 in (330 mm) tall and wide |
| + | * May have large, metal shutter | ||
| + | * Material colors vary | ||
| - | The 5.25 in (130 mm) cartridge was the workhorse of professional and enterprise optical storage. Capacities grew from roughly 600 MB in early generations to 60 GB in the final iterations. The size supported rewritable MO, ablative and MO WORM, and phase-change formats. It was widely used in workstations, | + | ==== Dimensions ==== |
| + | |||
| + | * Outer Casing: ~330 mm × ~330 mm × ~20 mm | ||
| + | * Inner Media: 300 mm (12 inch) | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Technology ==== | ||
| - | ===== 12 in / 300 mm ===== | + | * Various recording technologies |
| + | * Sometime rewritable, usually WORM | ||
| - | The largest DBEM format, 12 in (300 mm) cartridges were used almost exclusively in industrial, government, medical, and enterprise archiving, where huge volumes of records needed to be stored permanently. They were most often ablative WORM, with capacities ranging from a few gigabytes into the double digits per cartridge. Drives were large and expensive, and media was usually handled through high-capacity disk changers. Few of these systems remain, and documentation is especially scarce. | ||
hardware/form-factors.1791852484.txt.gz · Last modified: by hbm