About the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA)

OSTA was incorporated as an international trade association in 1992 to promote the use of recordable optical technologies and products. The organization’s membership includes optical product manufacturers and resellers from three continents, representing more than 85 percent of worldwide writable optical product shipments.

They work to shape the future of the industry through regular meetings of Commercial Optical Storage Applications (COSA), DVD Compatibility, Marketing, MPV (MusicPhotoVideo), UDF committees, and a new adhoc Blue Laser committee. Interested companies worldwide are invited to join the organization and participate in its committees and programs.

Commercial Optical Storage Applications Committee

The COSA Committee is committed to being the global authority and information repository on optical data archival systems, applications, and solutions for regulatory markets that dictate long-term storage in a non-alterable format.

DVD Compatibility Committee

This OSTA Committee has established a joint DVD compatibility testing initiative with the DVD Association (DVDA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The three organizations are participating in a joint DVD compatibility testing initiative to provide an independent, objective reference source for compatibility information on recordable DVD technology.

MPV Committee

The MPV Committee is dedicated to developing a standard for exchanging and playing collections of digital music, photos, and videos among consumer electronics devices and PCs on CDs, DVDs, memory cards, hard disks, home networks, and across the internet.

Optical Disc Archive (ODAT) Committee

OSTA’s, Optical Disc Archive Test (ODAT) committee addresses end user needs calling for established practices in media archive life testing and classification. The committee has two working groups: WG1 will address Specification Technical Development, while WG-2 will focus on Business Development & Implementation. Committee goals are to drive product quality to higher levels; achieve recognition and implementation of the specification as a standard; support the emergence of Archival Grade Media; create a marketable value-add for optical products – product differentiation based on archival grade; and support manufacturers marketing of optical disc vs tape or hard disk drives as the archival media of choice.

Universal Disk Format (UDF) Committee

The UDF Committee is dedicated to the on-going development of the specification Universal Disk Format, a file system defined by OSTA. This specification, fully compliant with the ISO 13346 standard, is intended for developers who intend to implement UDF to enable file interchange among different operating systems.