| Universal Media Disc | |
| Type: | Optical disc |
| Capacity: | 900 MB (single layer), 1.8 GB (dual layer) |
| Owner: | Sony |
| Use: | Games, movies, music |
The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is a discontinued optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on its PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform. It can hold up to 1.8 gigabytes of data and is capable of storing video games, feature-length films, and music. UMD is the trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment for their optical disk cartridge (ODC).[1]
While the primary application for UMD discs is as a storage medium for PSP games, the format is also used for the storage of motion pictures and, to a lesser degree, television shows for playback on the PSP. The video is encoded in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format, with the audio in ATRAC3plus or PCM. Video stored on UMD is typically encoded in 720×480 resolution, but is scaled down when displayed on the PSP. To date there are around 1500 films released on UMD (around 1000 are common for all regions and around 500 are region exclusives).The American punk rock band The Offspring released their Complete Music Video Collection on the format.[2] The BBC released a number of its programmes on UMD in the UK, including The Office, The Mighty Boosh, Doctor Who and Little Britain. WWE also released some wrestler highlights and documentary content on UMD format, such as The Monday Night War, Jake "The Snake" Roberts: Pick Your Poison, and WWE Raw Homecoming (a special episode of WWE Raw celebrating the return to USA Network); the only WWE pay-per-view released on UMD format was WrestleMania XXIV.[3]
Tupac's performance, Live at the House of Blues, was also released on the UMD, which also included several music videos, including Hit 'Em Up.[4] [5]
Some adult films have been released on UMD in Japan.[6] Sony reportedly took offence at adult film studios publishing pornography on the medium, but claimed that they were unable to restrict films on UMD like with games and other software for the PSP.[7]
ECMA-365: Data Interchange on 60 mm Read-Only ODC – Capacity: 1.8 GB (UMD)[8]
The case dimensions for UMD discs are 177×104×14mm.[9]
According to the official ECMA specification Sony designed the UMD to support two possible future enhancements and products.[8]
DVD region coding has been applied to most UMD movies and music. However, all PSP games are region-free, although some require pay-to-continue.
UMD offers large capacity and the capability to store quality audio/video content; however, the format's proprietary nature, the lack of writers and accompanying blank media, made adoption difficult. The UMD format never saw implementation on any device other than the PlayStation Portable, and as a result the market was very limited compared to those of other optical media formats. The high price of UMD movie releases were another contributing factor: they often retailed at comparable prices to DVD, but lacked extra content. Poor sales of UMD movies early in the format's life caused major studios like Universal and Paramount to rescind their support.[10] [11] Retail support of the format experienced similar troubles, and in 2006, Wal-Mart began phasing out shelf space devoted to UMD movies.
In late 2009, Sony began pushing developers away from the UMD format and towards digital distribution on the PlayStation Network in preparation for the launch of the digital-download-only PSP Go, which was the first (and only) PSP model to not include a UMD drive.[12] However, the system experienced lackluster sales compared to previous models, with most consumers still choosing the UMD-compatible PSP-3000 model, which continued to be sold alongside the PSP Go.[13] [14] Despite the earlier push for PlayStation Network releases around the PSP Go's launch, over half of the PSP's library was only made available in UMD format including and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. There have been a few PlayStation Network exclusive releases since the PSP Go's launch, such as LocoRoco Midnight Carnival. Still, most new games continued to be distributed via UMD, and, aside from those published by SCE, not all have been released on PlayStation Network.
The successor of the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, did not include UMD support, nor was it added throughout its lifespan. In move similar to the PSP Go, Sony focused on digital downloads and opted for low-profile flash-based cartridges as the system's main media format. Since 2011, there have been no more movies published on UMD in all Regions, sans Region 3, which saw releases of adult content up until 2016. Games were published on UMD up until 2013.
UMD can be dumped into disc image files (.iso or .cso), using a modified PSP. This file can be loaded by a modified PSP through the Memory Stick, similar to titles that were distributed through the PlayStation Network.