DVD is Back – With Four Layers

[Jimmy 2004]

Although Blu-ray and HD DVD look set to battle it out for high definition sales, DVD still has some life left in it as New Media Enterprises (NME) has developed a disk capable of holding 20GB of data. This new version of DVD continues to use red lasers to read data, and is known as Versatile Multilayer Disk (VMD), with 5GB of data being stored on each layer. It is exactly the same thickness as DVD, but by using a "modified 2P process" NME has managed to produce disks with more than two layers on a single side, with production costs comparable to standard DVDs. Although the only VMDs at the moment are 4 layer, NME is already planning versions as large as 48GB, and believes the technology will be capable of reaching the 200GB barrier. NME has already managed to sign deals in 12 regions around the globe, and is planning to give consumers a third (less expensive) option in the HD market.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Eric_Cartman]

but is it compatible with current readers/players?

 

[DR.Death]

no because they are only up to dual layers

 

[DaMulta]

The old dvd players can read dual layer tho

 

[DR.Death]

put it this way they probably wont be able to

 

[Jimmy 2004]

put it this way they probably wont be able to

I'd agree with that - but the advantage is that these 4 (maybe 8 sometime soon) layer DVD players will still probably be cheaper than Blu-ray or HD DVD players because the technology hasn't changed too much.

 

[Eric_Cartman]

but why spend money buying a new dvd player?

the new ones might be cheaper, but probably not by a lot, at least not right away

so wouldn't it make more sense to just take the plunge and go with blu-ray/hd-dvd?

 

[Jimmy 2004]

but why spend money buying a new dvd player?

the new ones might be cheaper, but probably not by a lot, at least not right away

so wouldn't it make more sense to just take the plunge and go with blu-ray/hd-dvd?

No necessarily - if this new VMD is capable of offering High Definition films at a lower price (much lower than blu-ray), why pay more for the other formats? I think it's probably too late to get a large market share, but it would be suitable to last for the first wave of HD, and after that things are likely to become more downloadable. It's up to the consumer really, but if this offers me HD at a lower price I'm more likely to go for it, it's an extra choice for people. Not that I have the money for a HD TV... that's why I'm sticking to standard DVD for now.

 

[Deleted member 3]

That pricing argument probably is flawed, considering the price of dual layer disks at the moment. However if you can get 48GB storage in the near future for ~2 Euros or even more towards single layer prices then it's interesting. Though by that time HD and blue ray disks will have dropped in price as well. I remain skeptic.

 

[DaMulta]

Well DVD can do HD its just HD takes huge amounts of space. So if you brought out DVD players that could do 1080P with the price of normal DVD players say 100 and less. Blue Ray and HD-DVD are going to die.

I rent my movies along with other millions of users.

Dan DVD-DL movies have been around for a while I belive..How eles do you make DVDs 7-9 gigs which all DVDs are for the most part.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Dual layer DVD's have been around since the beginning, recordable Dual layer is relatively new, however I said nothing about availability. I only mentioned pricing, which is way too high for DL disks at the moment.

 

[Eric_Cartman]

we aren't talking recordable media here, we are talking about consumer hd movie prices

the potential to sell the players and the actual movies at a lower cost is there, but knowing the greedy electronics and movie companies they will probably price these things around the same prices as hd dvd

 

[WarEagleAU]

I believe most current and probably in the past two years...will be compatible with this new layer of data. I mean, they could put a firmware for download or on a DVD to be put into the DVD to allow the player to read it. Simple coding really.

 

[DaMulta]

^^^No thats why copying DVDs is still very easy. They can't update the systems

 

[Benpi]

Wow. This is really going to pull downloading and on-demand HD movies closer into the future.

 

[Easy Rhino]

well i guess this is good news since a large majority of people havnt invested in or even thought about buying an hd dvd player. hd and blu-ray would die if these high capacity dvds can hit the market before hd and bluray really make a push and drop prices. think about it. why bother with a format change if you can just continue to use your same old stuff. brilliant!

 

[Darkrealms]

well i guess this is good news since a large majority of people havnt invested in or even thought about buying an hd dvd player. hd and blu-ray would die if these high capacity dvds can hit the market before hd and bluray really make a push and drop prices. think about it. why bother with a format change if you can just continue to use your same old stuff. brilliant!

Agreed. I've been ignoring the new formats so I'm not sure if they read all the formats of regular dvds and cds (I know hd's read dvd) and I've never been fond of sony's "my way" stuff (memory stick . . .). quad+ dvd means the same laser and better compatability in my book.