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Panasonic, the leading brand of smurf Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., announcedtoday plans for the 2006 introduction of blank Blu-ray (BD) discs in the United States. The new discs will be available in both 50GB and 25GB storage capacities which can be used on BD drives with 2X writing speed. The following four models will be introduced in the U.S. market this spring:

Models LM-BE50DE and LM-BR50DE utilize a dual layer structure to realize the large capacity of 50GB -- more than ten times the capacity of conventional single-sided 4.7GB DVD discs. This dual-layer technology was first introduced by Panasonic in the Japanese market in 2004 with 1x speed.

Model Number
Specification
SRP*

LM-BE50DE
Rewritable, 50GB, Single-Sided, Dual Layer
$59.99

LM-BE25DE
Rewritable, 25GB, Single-Sided, Single Layer
$24.99

LM-BR50DE
Write once, 50GB, Single-Sided, Dual Layer
$42.99

LM-BR25DE
Write once, 25GB, Single-Sided, Single Layer
$17.99





Among the main features of Panasonic’s Blu-ray discs:

Dual layer technology Achieves 50GB Capacity:

A new layer stack technology allowed Panasonic to stack two recording layers, an intermediate layer, and a transparent cover layer into a thickness of only 0.1mm. A recording film technology with high sensitivity and high transmittance made it possible to achieve the dual-layer structure, and a high-precision forming technology ensured that the intermediate layer has a uniform thickness throughout. These technologies combine to produce a Panasonic BD disc that features two recording layers with a capacity of 50GB.


Spin-coated cover layer:

Panasonic BD discs also use an advanced spin coating process technology to form the cover layer with extremely uniform thickness. This is the key element for stable data recording.


A uniquely fabricated film for rewritable disc:

An originally developed, highly sensitive and durable recording film used for rewritable discs further enhances the stable recording and playback characteristics, of particular importance for PC use where data is frequently rewritten.


An inorganic material film for write once disc:

An inorganic material which is unaffected by light is utilized for a recording film of the write-once disc, which ensures safe and long-time storage of the data.


Hard-coated cover layer:

Newly-developed surface-treatment technology enables a significant boost in disc resistance to scratches and abrasions, ensuring high reliability and durability even without a cartridge.

Source: http://www.teamxbox.com

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omg $18 a disc? you got to be kidding me >.<

Who cares about about? A theoretical 8 layer double sided blu-ray would hold 500 GB! Now all we need is a blu-ray music player, and iPod can kiss us all goodbye.

How much is the writer?

The Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Disc player will be available in June at a suggested price of $1800.

Nothing on the writers/burners as of yet :p

Question, will the Blu-ray Disc be the same size as regular cd/dvds, or is there a size difference?
And when I did a quick google search on it, the disc are like transparent and whatnot, so Blu-ray Disc are clear as well?

They are the same size as dvds but they are alittle thinner. The transparancy depends on the maker. Some produced is transparent while others are a solid colour.

Blu-Ray disc players (isn't it Sony, not Panasonic? I'm confused now) are projected to cost between $1000-$1500 US. Not to mention how expensive each disc is (the space is great though), and how useless a single-use one would be.

Seems like an awesome jump drive with all that space on one item, if it weren't for the fact that it wasn't a USB thing.

According to what I know, Blu-Ray is competing with the slightly inferior but only half as costly HD-DVD format? I'm assuming not long after both come out, the new holographic disc technology (300 GB) will beat them both. Either that, or none will break through the market because it's too expensive and not many people really need all that space. O_o

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=2019

All these disks have more space than my computers! I think "next generation" definitely can wait.

Sony came up with the idea and are developing blu-ray with other companies as well. Other companies are also producing :p

HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray. It is up to the people who buy that decides the fate of both of them xD I think we should just stick to DVDs!

Yea. We've just settled down in bed with DVD. VHS is almost a thing of the past! And now they expect us to start throwing our DVD's into the bin!

I agree with Yoshi. Who needs THAT much space! Unless you're the government of a country or a multi-national company, I don't see how we would need this. I mean, sure, HDTV is great, but DVDs are still great quality. The only home use I can think of is if you want to put an entire TV series on one disc.

And Tested, I read somewhere that Microsoft are backing HD-DVD and Apple are backing Blu-Ray, so if Blu-Ray prevails then the iPod could get itself a little upgrade.

So on the one hand panasonic are saying "please dont be piracy" and on the other saying "here have an excellent medium for pirating games, music and films!"

But then they arent really, so nevermind.

Yes, I would only use them for putting a whole series on disk. =P I would pay that much to do it to, as it's not that bad of a deal, if used for that purpose. Otherwise... I don't see why I would need it.

I could. A single disk for all my Naruto episodes

I don't know whether I should be glad or shuddering.

My house still runs on VHS VCRs! I haven't even settled down with DVD (I don't have a DVD burner), or VCD before it (although that doesn't really count).

I know this new stuff has its audience, but I don't think either format will reach the targets they're aiming for, cause I'm sure there are probably more people like me.

Anyway, I'm gonna end it here...since I just realised that there's actually a topic for this, right here. Oops, my bad. I guess we should just leave this topic for the Panasonic Blu-ray announcement...