Universal Media Disc

The Universal Media Disc, Universal Media Disc (UMD), is a type of optical disc developed by Sony, known primarily for its use in the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

It can contain 900 MB of data or 1.8 GB in double layer.

It can include games, movies, music, or combinations of these elements.

Generalities

In July 2006, Sony announced that it would create a new system for video movies. The “UMD for PSP” format is supported by ECMA, the organization that since 1984 has been responsible for advancing the development of optical discs, as well as CD-ROMs and DVDs. Sony originally developed the UMD as a multimedia storage medium in three different versions: UMD Game, UMD Video and UMD Audio. When the PSP came onto the market, the maximum capacity of Memory Stick units, the memory card it uses, did not exceed 8 or 16 MiB; To have a format that supported almost 2 GB was to have no competition. Nowadays, there is the possibility of using it in the future to store data, as is the case with the Minidisc (HI-MD). Both the audio and video encoding software represented an improvement in the compression algorithms of the container format with respect to those used until then in DVDs. These algorithms improved quality by reducing file size. UMDs use the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) audio format based on a lossy compression algorithm, with compression performance superior to that of MP3.

A UMD disc has a calculated useful life of just over 100 years, which is slightly longer than current CDs and DVDs and considerably longer than Blu-rays made of cellulose. At the time of the release of the PSP, the UMD Game was a success, but in the case of the UMD Video it did not receive the international reception that was expected due to the strength of DVD Video and the alternative of watching MP4 videos from the memory card that is increasingly competitive in price and quality. Some UMD titles, in addition to the original version, which is usually in English, have subtitles in English and Spanish, thus facilitating language learning. As for UMD Audio, its initial support was zero, mainly due to strong competition from globally accepted media such as Compact Disc or other media such as: Minidisc, DVD Audio and SACD. The 1.8 GB UMD optical disc is equivalent to less than three CD-ROM discs combined and is well below what a standard DVD can hold. However, for a PSP video game this capacity is more than enough to date, since the video games that have appeared in terms of volume of stored data never reach the volume of data that desktop console video games have, which use the format DVD or BluRay.

The multimedia possibilities of the UMD disk are varied and it uses manufacturing processes very familiar to the industry, which is why its manufacturing cost is similar to that of other optical disks. It allows you to store any type of data in them. Compared to formats such as cartridges from other game consoles or memory cards, their production cost is higher, they are more fragile for handling by children and they take longer to load. One fact to highlight about this format is that virgin UMDs are not sold for recording. Although in 2005 there was a discussion about whether Sony would open the UMD format in movies and music, the company itself confirmed that its intention is to keep the specifications of the UMD format closed, probably to avoid competition and thus benefit from the licenses.

The official UMD player should not be confused with the PMP video player, which is a type of homebrew container created by Jonny Leffe, exclusive for PSP and related to MP4 that has some features different from the MP4 container. The PMP container supports both ASP and AVC video formats. The basic differences are the following: the official default MP4 player of the PSP works at 266 MHz, the homebrew player of PMP works at 66 MHz, which reduces battery consumption considerably and the machine heats up less. Likewise, the PMP player reaches higher resolutions than the PSP's MP4 player, up to 720 x 512 pixels. Play compressed video with DivX or xviD. The videos must have a maximum resolution of 480 x 272 and the audio must be mp3 CBR at 96 kbit/s preferably. The videos for the player must be adapted with a special program, to create a pmp container, with a sampling of 44 100 Hz, the video and audio are multiplexed using the pmpmuxer.

Technical specifications

The UMD standard defines optical discs with a diameter of 60 millimeters and a weight between 2.8 and 3.5 grams. There are two variants, with a maximum storage capacity of 1.8 gigabytes.

ECMA-365: The optical disc is stored in a plastic case specially designed by Sony. Data stored on the disk is read-only. The capacity is greater than that of CDs, 900 MB in the single-layer version and 1.8 GB in the double-layer version, although for the latter case it only supports a maximum of 1.67 GB. This is the equivalent of less than three CD-ROM discs combined and is well below what a standard DVD can hold. The physical format on which the UMD is based is very similar to that of the DVD, although while the latter uses a 650 nanometer red laser for reading, the UMD uses a 660 nanometer laser, which makes its reading incompatible. Videos on UMD are compressed into a denser format than on DVDs and CDs, thanks to the greater power of the PSP's multimedia computing processor. UMD uses the MPEG-4 AVC video codec, a variant of the Advance Video Coding (AVC) format, which is currently the most advanced standard in terms of video coding.

• Housing dimensions: 65 millimeters (long) x 64 millimeters (width) x 4.2 millimeters (high).
• Disc Diameter: 60 millimeters.
• Maximum capacity: 1.80 GB (double layer), exactly "1.67 GB".
• Laser wavelength: 660 nm (red laser).
• Figure: AES 128-bit.
• Reading speed: PSP (12 MB), PSP Slim (14 MB).

It can cope with operating or reading working environments with temperature between -25°C and 70°C. For long-term storage, they should not withstand temperatures below -20°C or above 50°C. Sudden changes in temperature can cause very serious damage, such as cracks, which render them unusable. With normal use, without improper manipulation, the life is calculated around 100 years.

The two variants of the format are based on the amount of data they allow to store:

1. Type A: are single-layer discs with a maximum capacity of 0.9 GB. The films stored in this variant are sold at a lower price. They bring less extras.
2. Type B: These disks can store up to 1.8 GB in two different layers within the same disk. This format is used for UMD Video and in some specialized systems that are not marketed to the general public.

In reality, the two optical discs have the same number of layers, only in some cases both layers are recorded and in others one of them is left unrecorded. This saves costs in the manufacturing process, as only one type of design is required that is applied to all discs instead of multiple methods and processes.

Applications

Although it initially seemed that UMD would be a new storage standard for portable devices, it is only available on PSP and within some specialized systems that are not marketed to the general public.

The fact that Sony does not release the patent for the UMD support means that its use is restricted only to the PSP portable console. Even when the support allows it, readers for it are not included in any other type of device: video players, audio equipment, computers, etc., so its diffusion is very limited.

There are those who equate it with Sony's also project, the MiniDisc (MD). But already in the 1990s, Sony avoided falling again into the mistake it made in the 70s with the Betamax video system, better known as “Beta”, and licensed the MD technology to other manufacturers such as JVC, Sharp, Pioneer and Panasonic, each producing their own MD systems.

In October 2009, the new PSP-Go was launched on the market, which does not use the UMD physical support and replaces it with 16 GB internal memory. The plans, strategy and reason for keeping the format closed to other companies by Sony for the UMD are ignored. The commercial life of the UMD continues despite all the speculation, as does the commercial life of the previous MD.

The most well-known application of UMD support is storing PSP games. Currently, the UMD is also being used for the interactive books of the lonely planet tourist guide series adapted for the PSP and the distribution of photos and images on a commercial basis. The second most widespread use of the PSP's UMD is to store video. The video format is encoded in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format, with an ATRAC3plus audio format. The UMD in video format includes motion pictures, music videos and series such as The Office, Doctor Who and Little Britain, marketed by the television network BBC in the UK. UMDlab, an independent production company, tried its luck by launching its line of video productions, documentaries on contact or risk sports, exclusively in this format: “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in action”, “The DC Video”, which deals withskateboard sponsored by a shoe company, etc.

UMD Game

The games are classified by age content code, PEGI code, although other standards also apply, such as ZERO or ESRB. Releases in Spain usually cost €40 (€50 in special editions), although since the machine has been on the market for so long you can find cheaper titles under €30, promotions and numerous stores selling video games and movies in Second-hand UMD format from €5.

Games in UMD format load more slowly than Memory Stick, and in some complex games the slowness is noticeable. Being a mechanical mechanism, it accumulates dust and dirt inside the PSP and the reading lens can be stained.

UMD Video

At a time when portable battery-powered devices, with acceptable autonomy, were scarce, Sony saw the opportunity to launch a video game console on the market that was, in turn, a player of cinematic movies and interactive books in digital format.

Commercial videos are stored in UMD in the MPEG-4 AVC video codec, also called H.264 and MPEG-4 part 10. The fact that Sony chose this format is not coincidental, it represented a great advance in software and It contributes to a lower need for memory space, and by extension, to being able to include more DVD quality content in the limited space available. As with UMD Game video games, in UMD Video the technical coding by region has not been applied either, as in movie DVDs. Even though videos are exported by region, a UMD movie purchased in North America can be viewed in, for example, Europe. North America falls under region 1; Japan and Europe share region 2; Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong are in region 3; and Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands and Latin America, except Mexico, in region 4.

Despite not having been an accepted commercial medium for video distribution, it has a wide catalog of movies, music videos, series and other common content.

For motion pictures, the UMD video system delivers complete, high-quality feature films on a single disc. The capacity of these discs is sufficient and offers alternatives to MP4 that make it more desirable. New releases are no longer produced legally by Sony or other companies. This fact has led to the birth of virtual UMDs with new films. These virtual UMDs, called “UMD video ISO”, are creations of some PSP homebrew fans carrying movies and television series, which are loaded onto the memory card. and reproduce all the characteristics of a UMD Video. There is another parallel development format based on the PMP file system that uses a different video player.

To date, they are downloaded for free from the Internet and in this format, UMD video ISO, new titles appear every day with the most recent cinema hits and films considered classics of American, European and American cinema. Asian. In 2010 the UMD Video ISO video library exceeded 2000 titles, with the most notable website in its distribution being the PSPISO. Spanish pages have been relegated far behind due to anti-piracy laws that have forced the judicial closure of the majority of companies based in Spain. However, as a result of the lack of borders on the Internet, they have been replaced by others with headquarters in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, where their activity has suffered less harassment or they publish their developments on Asian pages as free-lance.

Discounting the little desire to invest in the cost of movies for the PSP, anyone who has seen a UMD Video movie agrees that it provides image quality even superior to the DVD standard. It uses a very advanced video system and although the extra content of a UMD movie is less than its DVD counterpart, the sound usually comes in stereo mode and with a quality similar to that of a conventional audio CD. The power of the console when processing this type of data allows it to offer surround sound; However, the output connectors limit this possibility, and good quality headphones are essential.

The UMD video player has more features than the MP4 movie player and more options than a normal DVD player.

It has a menu where, among other things, you choose the scene, the language of the film (it usually comes in 5 languages) and the subtitles, which can cover more than 20 languages, which makes the format a piece useful for learning languages anywhere, in an enjoyable way. As in any DVD player, we can simultaneously, for example, in English the soundtrack and the subtitles, to, for example, listen more carefully to the dialogues when learning languages.

It has several "screen modes" and 'angle option', which offers in some titles, especially musicals, the possibility of alternating or varying the camera that points at the protagonist of the film.

UMD movies take up less space than those recorded in the usual commercial DVD format. Even at the same quality level, video contained on UMD disk, compressed with a more advanced algorithm, requires less physical disk space. But, for the same price, PSP movies have many fewer hours of content, as a general rule. A large number of UMD video ISO movies, whether 3D or not, being adapted from commercial DVD or Blu-ray and stored on memory cards, are not subject to these physical space limitations and some exceed 2 GB, although their Usual size is between 1.1 or 1.2 GB.

History of UMD

The name UMD, universal media disk, in reference to its meaning of unique, universal or for everything, was adopted after a long journey. The Sony company initially considered three variant versions of this optical disc, and each of them would correspond to a different type of storage, according to the material it contained. This is how he considered: Audio MD, Game MD, and Video MD; to later discard the idea and launch an optical disc that could contain any type of material.

The use of cartridges, compared to other options such as optical discs, responds to a long list of factors. From the manufacturing price, which once a certain level of units is reached is very low, to the control over distributors and game manufacturers, who are obliged to use the parent company's patent to launch their titles. What's more: for every game or movie that goes on sale that is compatible with the game console, those responsible have to pay royalties to the console manufacturer. In general, cartridges provide some guarantee to control the software that appears for a platform, at least compared to common media such as CDs or DVDs. Additionally, a cartridge has no moving parts, so a game is less likely to be damaged if it receives a knock while reading, or is blocked by a bump while traveling in a car or simply raising your arms to rest for a while. seconds. The cartridges are very suitable for use by children.

Sony, in its diversification of optical discs, has opted for everyone. Among others, the large format, such as Blu-ray Disc, and the small format in different technologies such as minidisc or the one covered in this article.

Sony devised an optical disc with the economic advantages of the cartridge. A closed system that would last a finite time. Regarding its technological innovation, after the disappearance of analog video support: VHS or Beta, there were numerous attempts by pioneer companies to generate a digital video algorithm that would give good video quality in relation to size, but Decades were spent trying to create a complex video standard that offered commercial quality until they were commercialized and in the meantime standards were used on an excessively large optical medium. And all this so that it was not even a significant qualitative leap; The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) initially created the MPEG1 (Video-CD) standard and later developed MPEG2 (DVD). Each time video compression algorithms were improved, quality improved and graphic files were reduced in size, using less space on optical media.

The PSP console was designed as a multimedia console and its coprocessor, called MediaEngine, apart from allowing auxiliary tasks to be carried out to support the CPU, allows AVC to be decoded by hardware, an algorithm unattainable by other consoles. same category. PSP does not have to calculate how to view a movie in AVC, in the MediaEngine instructions it is already written how to do it. DVD, a cheap and convenient optical medium, allowed storage of more than 4 GB and provided marketable quality with MPEG2 coding that, being quite simple, allowed its use in inexpensive video players that did not need to handle very complex algorithms, was the relationship perfect between quality and price. The situation did not change for 5 years, until the MPEG4 standard was developed. In the long run, within that standard, the commercial compression algorithms: DIVX, and free: XVID, became famous. MPEG4 continues to be a format that allows its use in cheap players that, due to this and the proliferation of peer-to-peer, are sold at low cost.

So, within the MPEG4 standard, the AVC (Advance Video Coding) format was born, which is the most advanced standard in terms of video coding; offers superior quality, with infinitely better graphics process reduction than previous standards in the same capacities as VCD or DVD, however it was, and is, a very complex algorithm that requires great calculation capacity on the part of the player., to be displayed fluidly. Within this framework of technologies, the next generation of optical media was born: the battle between Toshiba's HD DVD and Sony's Blu-ray, which the latter finally won due to better distribution.

PSP came to the market with the aim of succeeding, apart from being playable entertainment, as a multimedia distribution system, something that almost all CD consoles in history had in mind, it aspired to be more than just a console. The problem was that even the MPEG1 (VCD) standard with its simple compression algorithm was too much for simple console CPUs like PCEngineCD, PSX, Saturn, MegaCD, etc. Sony, in addition to its new, smaller physical format, developed a new algorithm unattainable by consoles of the same category and it is true that the resolution is much higher and the non-compression of the audio improves the sensation of multiple channels.

Sony entered the world of consoles with Nintendo. The PlayStation console was born after the breakdown of Sony's agreement with Nintendo. The agreement was that Sony would develop the CD-ROM for the new SNES PlayStation, Nintendo's Snes CD Rom, with which it was intended to provide greater multimedia capabilities to the new Nintendo console, of the same Sony previously collaborated in the development of SNES, manufacturing its sound chip, which allowed 8 simultaneous channels with PCM quality, being far above the competition. However, Sony intended that of all SNES PlayStation games that were made in CD-ROM format, the profits from the sales of those games would go only and exclusively to Sony, but for Nintendo this agreement was not profitable, so Nintendo Seeing that this agreement would have ruined him, he renounced the agreement with Sony and entrusted that project to Philips, who offered to put the CD on his console in exchange for Nintendo sharing game licenses: the Mario and Zelda sagas.

Nintendo maintained that the cartridge had advantages over the CD and vice versa. This and the lack of success of the consoles that incorporated the CD at that time, caused Nintendo to cancel the project. After breaking the pact, on the one hand Sony debuted its PlayStation and Nintendo on the other hand launched the Nintendo 64.

By marketing a small and portable video game console, Sony wanted to take advantage of its experience in the field of optical discs and laser technology. It was necessary to innovate a format smaller than a CD, which in turn preserved its optical properties. The aim was to create a proprietary closed optical standard format, and market it universally, perhaps for portable devices.

At the beginning of UMD, in America, some movies were available on the market in UMD format, whose image quality is as good as that of DVD, and Sony hoped that soon many companies would be interested in releasing videos in this format. The film companies that would release films at UMD are: Disney, Warner Bros. Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Lions Gate Entertainment, Sony Pictures, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, and Anchor Bay Entertainment. Anime companies such as Bandai, Geneon, FUNimation, and Viz Media also planned to launch series on UMD. However, this type of support does not enjoy much support currently. In fact, Sony's own production company, Sony Pictures, Columbia Tristar, has begun to consider the UMD market on the PlayStation Portable as smaller. Only Sony has released films in this format, and the number of new titles is currently decreasing. In the few years since the appearance of the PSP until 2009, the storage capacity and price of memory cards have inverted exponentially, not to mention that thanks to adapters it easily supports even more competitive microSD cards. These facts have not gone unnoticed by owners, who have seen their machines reach astonishing storage capacities.

One of the goals of using a proprietary, proprietary, non-sale optical disc for recording was to make it difficult to illegally copy your data, but this has not been very successful. Even so, the success of preventing copying physical UMD disks can be considered complete, since for now it is impossible to make copies of the disks outside of professional manufacturing plants.

The PSP is practically a pocket PS2 with a 'removable hard drive', the Memory Stick, and multiple connection possibilities: IRDA, Wi-Fi, USB. In the scene movement they saw that it could be used as a PDA, as a word processor, press viewer, e-book reader, scientific calculator, to help with studies, traffic test or portable English school. They got to work, they looked for how to do it and they succeeded, giving others the opportunity to make their homebrew projects a reality.

Groups such as PSP-DEV and WAB developed launchers that allow you to run the ISO image of a game from the console's flash memory, loading it from the memory card, without the need for a physical UMD disk. One of the first games that could be launched from flash memory was Lumines. Initially, the game could be loaded from the console with US firmware version 1.50, but without sound. Many homebrew applications emerged for that firmware. ISO images range in size from 5 MB to 1.6 GB, with the usual size being between 200 and 700 MB.

A Sony firmware version for PSP called 1.51 patched the hole. In addition, games developed later forced this update to be carried out in order for them to work. Faced with several attempts by the Sony company, represented in new and new official firmwares, Dark Alex, an independent Spanish programmer, managed to recover the compatibility of the unofficial software and spread it on the Internet. He recreated a firmware more modern than 1.51 and subsequent ones and thus avoided said update. It was the birth of the "scene" around the PSP.

These members are mostly in first world countries, where high-speed Internet connections are available. Cracker groups are usually small. Theoretically, to develop software for a video game console and in general for any computer product, it is necessary to be accredited by the manufacturer and pay a considerable investment for the use of the license and the acquisition of the Development Kit (SDK). However, thanks to Scene and its free access to code already developed by other programmers, with relative ease, anyone can develop software for the PSP.

This movement that emerged on Sony's laptop is unprecedented. There have been contributions for other platforms, but mostly it was to load the ISO images or backups on their consoles. In the "scene PSP" The homebrew contributions are very numerous and varied, things never before done on any platform. The different "scene" Other video game consoles and portable devices emerge inspired by this one. Manufacturing companies have to count on the scene movement, a large movement with many users or consumers that cannot be left aside. Dedicated to circumventing protection systems, they have found effective means to distribute content. Furthermore, these methods are quite inexpensive, so copying physical UMD disks for illicit purposes does not exist.

The memory cards used by the PSP replace and complement the UMD. They offer more convenience than any optical disc: they have a smaller format, better reading speeds and do not cause wear and tear on the machine.

The UMD format was soon cracked thanks to reverse engineering practices, which allowed access to its content. This allows you to make backup copies of games and movies, called backups. Each disc uses a file system that follows the ISO 9660 standard format, so files can be burned and read on a CD, regular DVD or memory card as an ISO image.

Paradoxically, although they are not the commercial success expected by Sony, as computers with greater storage capacity, USB flash drives, removable hard drives or multimedia of several terabits, etc., become popular, the demand for files in the UMD Video< format /i> like other multi-GB files, is getting bigger. Despite the high cost of selling in stores, in the second-hand sales market, UMD videos are in high demand and backup copies or image disks are made that are exchanged and downloaded from the Internet using programs such as Emule, BitTorrent. or by direct download on collectors' websites and PSP fan forums. The extensive catalog available that continues to grow, more than 270 titles of American film productions and musical concerts, the large volume of the files, around 1.6 GB, and the option of audio in several languages represent advantages for its worldwide dissemination through the network, since they allow them to remain hanging on the network for longer to exchange them with a greater number of users from different countries as far away as Brazil or China. UMD Video sharing websites in disk image are present for many languages: Chinese, Arabic, Romanian, Polish, in Spanish: Ceramic Links, PequePSP, Limitepsp, GamesTorrents, GamesPspslim, Imperio UMD Video, espalzone.com, espalpsp. com, taringa; and in English: PSPISO. The custom firmware allows any user to make a backup copy of their store-bought movies and put them on the network. Compared to the maximum capacity of a UMD optical disc, the new cards are adapters from the Memory Stick format, to the lower-cost MicroSD card format, in two cards of up to 16 GB, offering a maximum of 30 Real GB, or directly to 32 GB. Furthermore, the use of memory cards saves the energy necessary to activate the mechanical movements of the optical disc and the energy consumption of the reading laser, which causes the battery designed for this energy expenditure to increase the autonomy of the PSP and the average life. of the machine by increasing the temperature less and aging the plastic CPU less, which becomes more brittle with heat.

Many Sony portable game consoles are customized to be able to watch and have dozens of movies in UMD Video format, without having to have all the discs. Only an original disc inserted in the PSP, which can be a UMD Game, and thus avoid staining the lens or damaging the physical media.