The use of long data sectors was suggested in 1998 in a technical paper issued by the National Storage Industry Consortium (NSIC)[2] calling attention to the conflict between continuing increases in areal density and the traditional 512-byte-per-sector format used in hard disk drives.

[3] Without revolutionary breakthroughs in magnetic recording system technologies, areal densities, and with them the storage capacities, hard disk drives were projected to stagnate.

[4][5] Advanced Format was coined to cover what was expected to become several generations of long-data-sector technologies, and its logo was created to distinguish long-data-sector–based hard disk drives from those using legacy 512-byte sector.

[8] Format efficiency gains resulting from the 4K sector structure range from 7 to 11 percent in physical platter space.

The enhanced ECC coverage improves the ability to detect and correct processed data errors beyond the 50-byte defect length associated with the 512-byte sector legacy format.

Early engagement with the Long Data Sector Committee provided the opportunity for component and software suppliers to prepare for the transition to Advanced Format.

Among the Advanced Format initiatives undertaken by the Long Data Sector Committee, methods to maintain backward compatibility with legacy computing solutions were also addressed.

Many host computer hardware and software components assume the hard drive is configured around 512-byte sector boundaries.

In order to maintain compatibility with legacy computing components, many hard disk drive suppliers support Advanced Format technologies on the recording media coupled with 512-byte conversion firmware.

The translation of the native 4096, 4112, 4160, or 4224-byte physical format (with 0, 8, 64, or 128-byte Data Integrity Fields) to a virtual 512, 520 or 528-byte increment is transparent to the entity accessing the hard disk drive.

This operation, known as read-modify-write (RMW), can require additional revolution of the magnetic disks, resulting in a perceptible performance impact to the system user.