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Sony announced in February 2006 their plans for their new films in Blu-ray to be
priced at $23.45 and catalog films at $17.95. Sony’s DADC (Digital Audio Disc
Corporation) replication company was to begin producing Blu-laser 25 GB discs
globally late February 2006 at a rate of 10 million per month with 30 replication
lines. Sony planned that by the end of summer 2006 the plants would be ready for
the 50 GB disc as well.
NME
In August 2006, Britain-based New Medium Enterprises (NME) declared they had
solved a technical production problem, which will now enable the manufacturing of a
low-cost (about 9 cents, rather than 6 for regular DVD, according to Dutch company
ODMS) multiple-layer DVD disc containing one film in different formats.
A multiple layer disc requires a player that is able to read it, and NME created new
technology to read more layers than the current generation of DVD players, which
can read up to two layers.
NME created DVD discs with 10 layers that are readable on the company’s own
player, and the company is willing to license the technology to other manufacturers.
Multi-layer Dual Optical Disc
In September 2006, two employees of Warner Brothers filed for a patent for a hybrid
HD DVD disc format that would store both HD DVD and Blu-ray content within two
layers of one side.
Called a “multi-layer dual optical disc,” would use the other side of the disc for other
content, such a DVD version of the movie.
Blu-ray data is written at 0.1mm from the surface of a disc, while HD-DVD data is
written at 0.6mm from the surface, the technique uses a semi-reflective film so
either layer can be read selectively by the laser pickup, which means that either
format would also be restricted to their individual single layer capacity (15GB for HD
DVD, 25GB for Blu-ray).
Toshiba’s Triple-layer Hybrid TWIN Disc Format
Additionally, Toshiba announced yet another triple-layer hybrid DVD/HD DVD disc (a
new TWIN format), to store both red-laser and blue-laser formats in a single side of
the disc.
As mentioned above (and in the 2005 and 2006 reports), Toshiba also introduced
their 38.5 GB dual side/dual layer disc (HD DVD dual layer 30GB in one side, DVD
dual layer 8.5 GB in the other side), as well as their 45GB triple layer format for
expanded capacity purposes, using 3 layers on one side.
In 2004, Toshiba and Memory-Tech proposed their first generation TWIN to the DVD
Forum for approval, and the idea was to implement a practical, and cost beneficial to
consumers, transition from DVD to HD DVD with a hybrid disc that would contain
both formats, so consumers would not have to purchase the same movies again
when they upgrade from DVD players to the HD DVD players.
The first generation TWIN is a single sided dual layer format in which the HD DVD
layer holds 15GB of content while the DVD layer would hold 4.7 GB; certainly limited
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