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MiniDVD

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This article is about 8 cm DVDs. For other uses, see MiniDVD (disambiguation).
Conventional 12 cm disc (left) compared to 8 cm disc (right)
Optical discs
General
Optical media types
Standards
See also

MiniDVD (also Mini DVD or miniDVD) is a DVD disc which is 8 centimetres (3.15 in) in diameter. It refers two separated formats as well. One is a pseudo-format that uses 80mm CD-R(W) to store contents with the same structure as the standard DVD-Video so that standalone DVD players can play it like standard DVD. The other format is a real DVD format, but in a smaller 80mm size, which holds 1.4 GB of data. But there are variants that hold up to 5.2 GB.

The 8 cm optical disc format was originally used for music CD singles, hence the commonly used names CD single and miniCD. Similarly, the manufactured 8 cm DVDs were originally used for music videos and as such became known as DVD single.

MiniDVD is known also as "3 inch DVD", referring to its approximate diameter in inches.

MiniDVD support

A MiniDVD can be played back in most Blu-ray and DVD players that are tray loaded. The trays on players and DVD drives have an inner ring where the 8 cm disc is centered for loading in the player. Most slot loading players cannot use this format; there are exceptions, however, such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the Wii. However, the Wii U (which can only run its own software and Wii discs) does not.

MiniDVD capacities

Recordable 8 cm discs are commonly used in DVD-based camcorders. The most common MiniDVDs hold 1.4 GB of data, but there are variants that can offer up to 5.2 GB of storage space.

Physical size Single layer capacity Dual/Double layer capacity
12 cm, single sided 4.7 GB 8.5 GB
12 cm, double sided 9.4 GB 17 GB
8 cm, single sided 1.4 GB 2.66 GB
8 cm, double sided 2.8 GB 5.2 GB

Variants of MiniDVD

Nintendo used a disc-based format for their GameCube system, which is a variant of an 8 cm DVD. This format is also supported by the Wii for backward compatibility with the GameCube.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to DVD.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to compact disc.
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