Upcoming meetings
- DateNameLocation
- 24 September 2025TC31 140th meetingTokyo, Japan
TC31 works on the standardization of Optical Disks and Disk Cartridges since 1984. Many CD and DVD standards were developed in Ecma and became Ecma and ISO/IEC standards over the years.
TC31 recently developed ECMA-423 that specifies the physical, optical and mechanical characteristics of a Holographic Data Storage Disk (HDSD) that employs holographic recording to enable data interchange between disks. HDSD is a 120 mm diameter holographic disk has a nominal capacity of 1 Tera byte. The recording of 2-dimensional data is performed with the shift and peristrophic multiplexing recoding by using spherical reference beam. The 1st edition of ECMA-423 was published in June 2023.
TC31 also developed ECMA-119, ECMA-420, ECMA-421, ECMA TR/111 and ECMA TR/112.
ECMA-119 specifies the volume and file structure of compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) for the interchange of information between users of information processing systems. The 5th edition of ECMA-119 was developed for being technically identical with ISO/IEC 9660:2023. ECMA-119 was originally published as ISO 9660 in 1988.
ECMA-420 specifies device interface information and requirements for high-speed image retrieval and collation using holographic optical correlation based on shift-multiplex recording of coaxial holography.
ECMA-421 standard specifies a quality discrimination method of optical disks and operating method of storage systems for long-term data preservation and it enables users to build data storage systems that use optical disks for long-term data preservation.
ECMA TR/111 describes the Universal Archive Disk Format (UADF), the necessary perspectives to solve the problems of file system compatibility and also the age of the media and DRM in a data archive system capable of preserving data for the long term from a volume and file structure point of view.
ECMA TR/112 describes the Universal Disk Format (UDF) specification, which is a practical subset of ECMA-167, to maximize data interchange and minimize the cost and complexity of implementing ECMA-167.
Topics under consideration include a standard that will specify the Universal Archive Disk Format (UADF) based on the description of ECMA TR/111.
At Ecma’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2011, Dr. Paul Weijenbergh, past Chairman of Ecma TC31, gave a presentation on the history of standardization of optical disks (including CDs, DVDs, etc.) over the past 36 years, starting with video disks in the 1970s, and the future standardization of Blu-ray disks. The audio file is available below.