This section provides technical reference material for all users. A more informal treament can be found in the Getting Started section.
An HD DVD contains two types of contents: one is Standard Content and the other is Advanced Content. Standard Content is a pure extension of SD, as described in DVD-Video specification Version 1.1.
Advanced Content consists of Advanced Navigation such as Playlist, Manifest, Markup and Script files, and Advanced Data such as Primary/Secondary Video Set and Advanced Element (image, audio, text, etc.). At least one Playlist file and Primary Video Set must be on a disc which has Advanced Content, and other data can be on a disc and also be delivered from a server.
The specification allows two Categories of discs, Standard Content and Advanced Content.
Advanced Data and Standard Content both contain EVOBs, which consist of video, audio, subpicture, and other data multiplexed together. Standard Content EVOBs contain button highlight and other information that is not used in Advanced Content. Advanced Content EVOBs may contain copies of some Advanced Content files, multiplexed in with the video, audio and subpicture data as Archiving data.
An HD DVD has a Volume and File Structure and a set of Directory and File Rules. Volume space is divided into zones for HD DVD-Video and DVD others (commonly referred to as ROM data).
The top level of the DVD must always contain a folder with the name HVDVD_TS. If the DVD contains Advanced Content, it must also have a folder with the name ADV_OBJ at the top level.
Advanced Content consists of the following:
A Playlist chooses the sequence of presentation objects to be played. For example, to play back the Primary Video Set, the player player might start by reading a TMAP file by using the URI described in the Playlist, then interpret an EVOBI referred to by the TMAP, and access the appropriate P-EVOB defined in the EVOBI.
In this case the TMAP is a file with extension .MAP, the EVOBI exists within the one and only Advanced Video Title Set file (extension .VTI), and the P-EVOB exists with the EVOB file with same name as the TMAP file, with extension .EVO. All of these files are found in the HVDVD_TS folder.
To present Advanced Application, which means construct video rather than playing it directly, a player reads a Manifest file by using the URI described in the Playlist, and starts to present an initial Markup file described in the Manifest file after storing resource elements (including the initial file).
In this case the Manifest and other Advanced Application files are found in the ADV_OBJ folder.
Here is a table that shows the Relation among Presentation Objects in Advanced Content.
A Playlist file is described by XML and one or more Playlist files are located on a disc. The Playlist file is what starts the playback of Advanced Content.
A Playlist file consists of the following information:
Object Mapping Information gives playback information among presentation objects such as Primary Vide Set (Primary Audio Video), Secondary Video Set (Substitute Audio Video/Substitute Audio/Secondary Audio Video), Advanced Application and Advanced Subtitle, by mapping these presentation objects on the Title Timeline. In Object Mapping Information, Primary Video Set or Secondary Video Set is referred to via the URI of its Time Map file, and Advanced Application or Advanced Subtitle is referred to via the URI of its Manifest file.
In this information, streams and applications in each presentation object such as Main Video stream, Main Audio stream, Sub Video stream, Sub Audio stream, Sub-picture stream and Advanced Application are assigned to Tracks such as Video Track, Sub Video Track, Audio Track, Subtitle Track, and Application Track.
This information gives a list of user selectable Tracks, which is defined in the Track Number Assignment Information and attribute information such as language code for each Track.
This information gives the timing when resource files (i.e. Advanced Elements) need to be loaded in the File Cache and the timing when the resource files are referred to in Advanced Applications(s).
Playback Sequence Information gives chapter information in a Title, by indicating time points in the Title Timeline.
System Sequence Information gives information for system configuration such as Streaming Buffer Size.
Scheduled Control Information gives information for Scheduled Pause and Event Firing of Title Timeline at the specified time.
Primary Video Set in Advanced Content consists of Advanced VTS space, Standard VTS space, and VMG. Basically Advanced VTS is used only in Advanced Content, and Standard VTS may be used in Advanced Content even though this VTS is mainly used for Standard Content. In Advanced Content, VMG may exist in the Primary Video Set, however the transition to VMGM_DOM or FP_DOM is not allowed.
Advanced VTS is used for the Video Title Set for Advanced Content. Compared to Standard VTS, it supplies the following enhancements.
1) More enhancements for an EVOB
2) Integration of the Enhanced VOB Set (EVOBS)
3) Elimination of a layered structure
4) Introduction of new Time Map Information (TMAPI)
Standard VTS is normally used in Standard Content, however it may be used in Advanced Content via the TMAP structure. The EVOB information for Standard Content, such as HLI and PCI (button highlights, etc.) is ignored if the Standard VTS is used in Advanced Content.
The Secondary Video Set is used for substitution of the Main Video/Main Audio streams to the corresponding streams in the Primary Video Set (Substitute Audio Video), substitution of the Main Audio stream to the corresponding sream in the Primary Video Set (Substitute Audio), or used for addition to/substitution of the Primary Video Set (Secondary Audio Video).
The Secondary Video Set may be recorded on a disc, recorded in Persisent Storage or delivered from a server. The file for the Secondary Video Set is once stored in the File Cache or Persistent Storage before playback, if the data is recorded on a disc, and it is possible to be played with the Primary Video Set simultaneously. The Secondary Video Set on a disc may be directly accessed in case that the Primary Video Set is not played back (i.e. it is not supplied from a disc). On the other hand, if the Secondary Video Set is located on a server, all of this data should be stored once in the File Cache or Persistent Storage and played back ("Complete downloading"), or a part of this data should be stored in the Streaming Buffer sequentially and played back from the buffer while downloading, without the buffer overflowing.
Secondary Audio Video contains zero or one Sub Video stream and zero to eight Sub Audio streams. This is used to add to the Primary Video Set or to substitute the Sub Video stream and a Sub Audio stream in the Primary Video Set.
Substitute Audio Video contains one Main Video stream and zero to eight Main Audio streams. This is used to substitute for the Main Video stream and Main Audio stream in the Primary Video Set.
Substitute Audio contains one to eight Main Audio streams. This is used to substitute for the Main Audio stream in the Primary Video Set.
An Advanced Application consists of one Manifest file, Markup file(s) (including content/style/timing/layout information), Script file(s), Image file(s) (JPEG/PNG/MNG/Capture Image Format), Effect Audio file(s) (LPCM wrapped by WAV), Font file(s) (OpenType) and others.
A Manifest file gives informatin for display layout, an initial Markup file to be executed, Script file(s) and resources in the Advanced Application.
Advanced Subtitle is used for subtitle synchronized with video, which may be for substitution of the Sub-picture data. It consists of one Manifest file for Advanced Subtitle, Markup file(s) for Advanced Subtitle (including content/style/timing/layout information), Font file(s), and Image file(s). The Markup file for Advanced Subtitle is a subset of Markup for Advanced Application.
| Presentation Object | Data Source | Data Class | Data Type | Player | Decoder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Video Set | Disc | Primary A/V | Main Video | Primary Video Player | Main Video Decoder |
| Main Audio | Main Audio Decoder | ||||
| Sub Video | Sub Video Decoder | ||||
| Sub Audio | Sub Audio Decoder | ||||
| Sub-picture | Sub-picture Decoder | ||||
| Secondary Video Set | Any(1) | Substitute A/V | Main Video | Secondary Video Player | Main Video Decoder |
| Substitute Audio | Main Audio | Main Audio Decoder | |||
| Secondary A/V | Sub Video | Sub Video Decoder | |||
| Sub Audio | Sub Audio Decoder |
| Advanced Application | File Cache(2) | Markup/Script/Image/Effect Audio/Font | Advanced Application Presentation Engine |
| Advanced Subtitle | File Cache(2) | Markup for Advanced Subtitle/Font/Image | Advanced Subtitle Player |
(1) Disc, Persistent Storage, Network or File Cache
(2) Resource files in a disc, in Persistent Storage, or in a network must be stored once in File Cache before they can be accessed.
All HD DVD-Video discs must contain an HVDVD_TS directory at the top level. All files related with the Primary Video Set shall reside under this directory.
All discs containing Advanced Content must contain an ADV_OBJ directory at the top level. All Playlist files shall reside directly under this directory. Any files of Advanced Navigation, Advanced Element, and Secondary Video Set can reside directly under this directory.
There are two HD DVD Disc Categories:
Standard Content is just an extension of content defined DVD-Video Version 1.1 especially for high-resolution video, high-quality audio, and some new functions. Standard Content consists of one VMG space and one or more VTS spaces, which are called "Standard VTS" or just "VTS".
Some highlights of these extensions are:
Standard Content contains EVOBs, which consist of video, audio, subpicture, and other data multiplexed together. Standard Content EVOBs contain button highlight and other information that is not used in Advanced Content.
The ADV_OBJ directory must be present at the top level of all HD DVD discs containing Advanced Content. All Playlist files shall reside directly under this directory. Any files of Advanced Navigation, Advanced Element, and Secondary Video Set can reside directly under this directory.
Playlist files have an extension of "XPL" (or "xpl").
A Playlist file may be necessary to be read from a disc as described in Startup Sequence of Advanced Content. In this case the file may be of two types, those with filenames "VPLSTxxx.XPL" for a player which connects with a dsiplay device, or the filenames "APLSTxxx.XPL" for a player which does not connect with a display device. xxx is a number between "000" and "999".
In this case, the Playlist file which has the maximum number shall be read initially in the startup sequence. The file must be found directly under the ADV_OBJ directory, not within its sub-directories.
Otherwise a playlist file may be found in sub-directories under the ADV_OBJ directory, and the file name rules are relaxed.
This file shall reside directly under the ADV_OBJ directory, and must have the filename "DISCID.DAT", even if functions for a network connection or Persistent Storage are not required in a disc.
This file may reside directly under the ADV_OBJ directory, and has an extension of "CER" or "cer".
Directories for Advanced Content may exist only under the ADV_OBJ directory. Any files of Advanced Navigation, Advanced Element and Secondary Video Set can reside in this directory. The number of sub-directories shall be less than 512, and directory depth shall be less than or equal to 8. (Excluding the ADV_OBJ directory itself). Directory names must conform to the character set described for files, below.
The total number of files under the ADV_OBJ directory shall be limited to 512 x 2047, and the total number of files in each directory shall be less than 2048. The character code set is limited to a subset of ISO 8859-1, that is: "A to Z a to z 0 to 9 space !$%&'(),-.;=@_" (20h, 21h, 24h to 29h, 2Bh to 2Eh, 30h to 39h, 3Bh, 3Dh, 40h to 5Ah, 5Fh, 61h to 7Ah). The length of the filename must not exceed 255 characters.
File names must be chosen so that they are unique in both case-sensitive and case-insensitive systems. All instances of the same name shall be recorded as if in a case-sensitive system, and the player shall preserve the upper and lower case of filenames.
It is acceptable for an HD DVD-Video disc to contain one or more zero byte files.
See File Extension and MIME Type for a list of the supported file types.
| Extension | Content | MIME Type |
|---|---|---|
| XPL | Playlist | text/hddvdpl+xml |
| XMF | Manifest | text/hddvdmf+xml |
| XMU | Markup/Content | text/hddvdmu+xml |
| XTS | Timing Sheet | text/hddvdts+xml |
| XAS | Markup/Content for Advanced Subtitle | text/hddvdas+xml |
| XSS | Style Sheet | text/hddvdss+xml |
| JS | ECMAScript | application/ecmascript |
| EVO | Secondary Video Set EVOB | video/evob |
| MAP | Time Map | application/tmap |
| BUP | backup for Time Map | application/tmap |
| JPG | JPEG image | image/jpeg |
| PNG | PNG Image | image/png |
| MNG | MNG animation | image/mng |
| CVI | Capture Video Format | image/cvi |
| CDW | Capture Drawing Format | image/cdw |
| WAV | WAV audio | audio/x-wav |
| OTF, TTF, TTC | OpenType font | application/font |
| ACA | Archiving format | application/archiving |
| CER | Certificate | application/x-x509-ca-cert |
| Others | Others | application/x-data |
This directory must exist at the top level of the HD DVD. All files related with the Primary Video Set must reside within this directory. For Standard Content these are the VMG and and Standard Video Set(s) . For Advanced Content, these are the files for Advanced VTS.
Backup files are optional in Advanced VTS.
Volume space is defined by a UDF Volume and File structure.
Volume space is divided into zones for HD DVD-Video and DVD others (commonly referred to as ROM data). THe HD DVD-Video zone is further divided into the Standard Content zone and the Advanced Content zone. The zones may be placed on the disc in any desired order.
Within the Standard Content zone, the Video Manager (VMG) is followed by one or more Standard Video Title Sets (VTS). Within these, the files must be named and written in a pre-defined order. (See Directory and File Rules).
The Advanced Content zone must contain an Advanced VTS title file, which must be named "HVA00001.VTI", and other Advanced Content files, whose file names are described in the title file.