UDF: Universal Disk Format

When you are using a CD-recordable drive, CDRW (CD rewritable) or a new DVD drive, you may be working with an underlying techonology called UDF -- an acronym for the optimistically named "universal disk format." A description of CDRW, the differences between first- and second generation DVD is in an article on our website entitled Recordable DVD and CDRW. With the Adaptec UDF software (described in detail here), a MultiRead-compatible DVD drive can read CD-RW discs as well. Indeed,  Windows 98 includes "built in" support for UDF -- with some limitations -- and future OSes from Microsoft, Apple and others are expected to continue this trend.

Free UDF Reader from Adaptec Enables CD-RW Discs to be Read in MultiRead CD-ROM Drives

March 26, 1998—Milpitas, CA— Adaptec, Inc. has announced a UDF (Universal Disk Format) Reader that allows MultiRead CD-ROM drives to read CD-ReWritable (CD-RW) UDF discs, a critical step toward making CD-RW media the perfect solution for storage, back-up, and file sharing.

"Achieving compatibility between CD-ROM drives and CD-RW media is one of the keys to the success of the CD-R/RW market. By making a UDF Reader available at no charge, we expect to kick the adoption of CD-RW into warp speed," says Tom Shea, general manager for Adaptec’s Software Products Group. "And we believe that the presence of a standard UDF Reader in the marketplace will accelerate the trend toward greater UDF support in operating systems."

Currently UDF-formatted CD-RW discs cannot be read in CD-ROM drives. Now with the Adaptec UDF Reader, Windows 95 or Macintosh operating systems can read standard UDF formatted CD-RW discs in MultiRead CD-ROM drives, giving consumers much needed compatibility between CD-RW discs and CD-ROM drives. Adaptec says a UDF Reader for Windows NT 4.0 will be available in the coming weeks. (Press Release)

Windows DVD Update

Supplementing our article entitled, "DVD - a Status Report" (http://www.tcp.ca/gsb/reviews/storage/DVD.html) is the following updated info:

Software Architects is the chosen supplier of Device Drivers and UDF file system for Windows 95 by the triad of DVD-RAM manufacturers. The company's Write DVD! and FormatUDF! products are now shipping and as DVD-RAM devices some to market, you'll see many of them bundled with this software.

Key points:

WriteDVD and FormatUDF! delivers device drivers and a full block addressable, read write UFD 1.5 implementation for DVD-RAM Drives. Win 98 & Win NT will support UDF but limited to read only.

Also scheduled to ship this month from Software Architects is  DVD RAM TUNEUP for Mac, a device Driver, formatting, caching and partitioning utility for DVD RAM drives.

How to connect a DVD-RAM drive toWindows NT v4

Although SA's Write DVD application is for Windows 9x only,. it should be possible to successfully use DVD-RAM (e.g., the Panasonic LF-D101) under Windows NT 4.0 using the following method. . We haven't yet received a drive to test it on, so the following information is subject to the usual caveats:

From http://www.softarch.com/us/dvd/dvd_index.html

Format UDF! is an application which allows you to set up your DVD-RAM drive for reading and writing. With Format UDF! you can initialize your media in either Windows native or into the DVD-RAM standard UDF. This product works together with WriteDVD!.

System Requirements:

• Windows 95/NT
• 486 or greater processor
• 16MB RAM

WriteDVD!, according to SA, is for Win95 only. However, Adaptec's UDF Readers enable MultiRead CD-ROM drives to read UDF formatted CD-R and CD-RW discs (such as discs written with DirectCD, and DVD titles) under Windows 95 and Mac OS. The UDF Reader for Windows is called UDF Reader Driver; the UDF Reader for Mac OS is called UDF Volume Access.

The new UDF Reader for Windows (version 1.01) supports Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0.

It is available at http://www.adaptec.com/products/overview/udfreaders.html

Some predictions according to Microsoft:

DVD PCs in the market by Christmas 1998--15 million units

• Running Windows 98--over 12 million units
• Able to do full (Joe Kane-level) DVD playback--9 million units

DVD PCs in the market in 1999--50 million units

• Running Windows 98--50 million units
• Able to do full (Joe Kane-level) DVD Playback--45 million units

MacOS 8.1: supports UDF, but....

According to a Mar. 31 report on http://www.macresource.com/, Adaptec's UDF Volume Extension enables the Mac to read closed UDF 1.5 volumes, such as those created by Adaptec's DirectCD. The UDF Volume Access Extension installed by Mac OS 8.1 only supports UDF 1.02, and thus not disks written by DirectCD. Apparently, the two extensions can peacefully coexist.

An Apple Tech Info Library Article (24451) entitled "DVD Technology: Overview" discusses many of the issues concerning DVD-ROM on the Macintosh. It's at http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n24451

For Additional Reading:

• Digital Versatile Disc 1997 Market Assessment, Competition & Opportunities (a report costing US$1095)
• How the DVD format will impact the education market (Pioneer)
• DVD-ROM & DVD-RW FAQs (Sony)
• The Rainmaker DVD Primer (DVD authoring info and general FAQ)
• EMedia Professional has an interesting technical article on the role of UDF in CD authoring.
• Microsoft's DVD FAQ - including market predictions and technology issues.
• DVD technology summary - from LaCie (June 98). Details recent developments in DVD-RAM and competing formats.