Term of the Moment
dot-com bust
Definition: AV drive
(Audio Video drive) Around the turn of the century, an AV drive was a hard drive optimized for audio and video applications, which require long, sustained transfers of music and video tracks. AV drives were designed to postpone thermal recalibration so that data transfer would not be interrupted for periodic recalibration. Today's hard drives have large memory buffers and use servo calibration to monitor head alignment, which together adequately support real-time audio and video.
SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0)
Because of the much higher transfer rate of SuperSpeed USB, drives that support USB 3.0 are sometimes touted as AV drives (see USB 3.0). See underrun and thermal recalibration.
An AV Drive
SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0)
Because of the much higher transfer rate of SuperSpeed USB, drives that support USB 3.0 are sometimes touted as AV drives (see USB 3.0). See underrun and thermal recalibration.
Inside or out, an AV drive looks like any other hard drive. (Image courtesy of Western Digital Corporation.)