Blu-ray capacity to be upped to 33.4GB per layer

[Zeus]

According to Blu-ray.com, Sony and Panasonic have developed a new technology that will allow the layer capacity of Blu-ray to be upped from 25GB to 33.4GB. Apparently, exisiting devices would just need a simple upgrade to read all 33.4GB.

<blockquote>Sony and Panasonic have announced that they have developed a new optical disc evaluation technology that will allow the layer capacity of Blu-ray media to increase from 25GB to 33.4GB using existing Blu-ray laser diodes. This would presumably allow existing Blu-ray hardware - including Blu-ray Disc players and burners - to play the proposed discs with a simple firmware upgrade.

Currently, disc evaluation is accomplished by analyzing disc jitter, but at higher capacity, that technique becomes unreliable. Sony and Panasonic resolved this by developing i-MLSE (Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation) evaluation index, which can perform the same function as jitter but at higher capacities. </blockquote>

News Source: <A href="http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3977" target="_blank">Blu-ray</a>

[CZroe]

For obvious reasons, for BD movies, this would only be used on layers beyond the first 25GB layer and that first layer would contain the feature presentation. What movie would have more supplimental content than the feature on the same disc? I couldn't tell you, but it could more appropriately be used for large software/library distribution. Or they could combine the two... say, if they wanted to throw in 33GB of supplimental data including extras, a PS3 game/demo, alternate cuts of the movie, and more.

[Tempos]

The increase is per layer, you main content could have a higher bitrate.

[danight]

or 15 gigs of DRM because you can never have enough DRM to make movies more enjoyable for the consumer.

[ThreeDog]

This is the better path rather than sticking on layer after layer and having everyone replace their hardware, I can't help but wonder about the ill effects of this change though.

[tech3475]

All I can say is, at least with the PS3 chances are it will always be compatible.

[Almighty_Peanut]

i wish they'd stop doing things like this that require updates. there's countless players on the market now, so it's not like it can be included on a disc. i tried to coach my mother how to do it and got fed up and did it myself and mailed it down.

it's great they're evolving it, but not everybody has the technical know-how on how to update their player. most people will probably try to return movies if they don't play right away, or buy another player that doesn't have the right firmware.

if it ain't broke, dun fix it!

it also doesn't help that they live in an area where broadband is not an option. their satellite TV loses signal constantly if it's even windy out.

[QrafTee]

Cool, but would it cause the read speed to increase or drop?

[Xenogears V]

Who care?...there is double layer solution to 50Gb.

[CZroe]

i wish they'd stop doing things like this that require updates. there's countless players on the market now, so it's not like it can be included on a disc. i tried to coach my mother how to do it and got fed up and did it myself and mailed it down.

it's great they're evolving it, but not everybody has the technical know-how on how to update their player. most people will probably try to return movies if they don't play right away, or buy another player that doesn't have the right firmware.

if it ain't broke, dun fix it!

it also doesn't help that they live in an area where broadband is not an option. their satellite TV loses signal constantly if it's even windy out.

Who said it had anything to do with players? As far as we know, no movie will ever use it for that very reason. Software distribution, yeah, but movies will only use it if they can maintain compatibility for the feature film (one 25GB layer).

Contrary to popular belief, Bonus View and BD Live never broke compatability with future titles. Some players had unrelated title-specific issues that required updates, just like early DVD players (ask me how I know*). Also, most manufacturers offer to send the update disc or USB key, just like you did.

*In the 90s, my new discs would typically have compatibility issues that would be fixed by updates in a few days, but every update I applied would fix one movie and break at least one other!

[Cue]

Am I missing the joke? why is there a picture of the 360 next to a blu-ray logo?

[CZroe]

Am I missing the joke? why is there a picture of the 360 next to a blu-ray logo?

Because Maxconsole always just Google Image Searches a few terms and grabs the first thing they can use. It results in nonsense images all the time. Honestly, you're only just now noticing this? How... observant.

[CZroe]

Who care?...there is double layer solution to 50Gb.

This makes dual layered discs 58.4GB (25GB + 33.4GB) or 66.8GB (33.4GB + 33.4GB). It really comes in useful with additional layers when used for applications outside of the world of movies and video where you can easily have 33.4GB times three, four, or more (100.2GB, 133.6GB, 167GB+, and so on).

[Cue]

Because Maxconsole always just Google Image Searches a few terms and grabs the first thing they can use. It results in nonsense images all the time. Honestly, you're only just now noticing this? How... observant.

lol, I know the images were often random but somehow remotely relevant. like gold PS3 shots for almost any PS3 story. Or a PS3 for generic blu-ray news but this is actually the first time I've seen this odd slightly confusing pic.