What is UMD?

The Universal Media Disc is Sony’s proprietary technology that works exclusively on their PSP handheld gaming console. With 1.8 gigabytes of storage capability, a universal media disc would be a great medium for consumers to store large amounts of their personal data to use on the PSP. Although Sony hasn’t announced any plans for recordable universal media discs, this would be a great opportunity for PSP users.

The outside of the universal media disc is protected by a hard shell with a small portion of the shell cutout to allow for playback. The disc is approximately half the size of an actual CD. The universal media discs 128-bit encryption keys work alongside the PSP to create a secure environment for the discs content. That will please developers and studios who are desperately trying to protect their work from piracy.

Dimensions: approx. 64 mm (diameter) × 4.2 mm (thickness)

Maximum capacity: 1.80 GB (dual layer), 900 MB (single-layer)

Laser wavelength: 660 nm (red laser)

Encryption: AES 128-bit

UMD Audio: MP3, ATRAC3Plus, PCM, MPEG4 AVC

The PlayStation Portable is a multipurpose handheld entertainment device that plays games, movies, music and personal data like photos and home videos. Using Sony's proprietary universal media disc technology, the PSP looks to build upon a growing market of mobile entertainment devices for consumers.

Macgo Mac Blu-ray Player: Play UMD format on your Mac.
Macgo Windows Blu-ray Player: Play UMD on Windows platforms.
Macgo Free Mac Media Player: Play UMD for Mac OS X.