Toshiba Develops 3-Layer DVD and HD-DVD

morpheus83 writes, "Toshiba, in collaboration with disk manufacturer Memory Tech Japan, has successfully combined a HD-DVD and DVD to a single 3-layer, twin-format disk. The resulting disk conforms to DVD standards so it can be played on DVD players, and also on HD-DVD players after upgrading the firmware. The disk can have either Single Layer DVD (4.7GB) + Dual Layer HD DVD (30GB); or Dual Layer DVD (8.5GB) + Single Layer HD DVD (15GB). There will not be a long wait as the new disk can be produced on the existing HD-DVD mass production line with minor process additions."

Nothing to see here... consumers are clueless.

[Tackhead]

> The resulting disk conforms to DVD standards so it can be played on DVD players, and also on HD-DVD players after upgrading the firmware. The disk can have either Single Layer DVD (4.7GB) + Dual Layer HD DVD (30GB); or Dual Layer DVD (8.5GB) + Single Layer HD DVD (15GB).

Going by the number of stretched video I've seen from users who don't know the difference between widescreen/letterboxed/4:3/16:9/pan-and-scan, (just when you thought "but I don't like the horizontal black bars at the top and bottom" was dying out on 4:3 screens, the very same who now have 16:9 screens are sying things like "I don't like the vertical black bars on the left and right!")...

The dirty little secret of this technology is that it's just a regular DVD, but you can convince yourself that it's HD-DVD when you play it back on an HD-DVD player... on your NTSC display. Or something.

(And if you can't immediately tell the difference, I'm sure there's a guy in a blue shirt who'll be happy to sell you some triple-layer Monster Cables that'll cure what ails ya. "Only triple-layer monster cables are compliant with triple-layer HD, sir, and can we interest you in the extended warranty on your new cables?")

Re:Good news for Microsoft...

[teslar]

Well, you'll still need a HD-DVD player to access the HD-DVD layers... so I don't see how it'll help the XBOX, unless you want to use the new external HD-DVD drive [reghardware.co.uk].

Well, this sucks

[rsilvergun]

for those of us stuck with regular DVD. I imagine studios will use the single layer at 4.7 gigs for dvd and the dual layer at 30 gigs for HD-DVD, meaning we'll get lousy picture. As an anime nerd, several of my favorite movies and shows got release on dvd-5 and are almost unwatchable (Nadesico being the worse, what with all the red).

Useless Hype?

[duerra]

I am most definitely not trying to troll, but as much as I wish this was useful, I just can't find it to be so. They need to develop a compatible quad-layer DVD, for dual HD-DVD and dual standard DVD support on the same side of a disk. As it stands right now, neither 15GB for HD-DVD or 4.7 GB for standard DVD is sufficient size for an entire movie in their respective formats, meaning that either the DVD version or the HD-DVD version on the disk is going to suffer. If I was in the market for HD right now, I certainly would not be purchasing one of these discs, as I would either be going to suffer *now* because of the compression to a single-layer DVD, or I would suffer *later* because of the compression to a single-layer HD-DVD.

Re:Well done Toshiba

[Aladrin]

That was my thought exactly when I read the summary. (Article... There's an article??)

Other people have noted that it would ease the transition to hd-dvd considerably, and it's not something I had thought of, but it's definitely true. For gaming and movies both. Such a wealth of opportunity. And other weird hybrids, like an xbox game on the dvd portion and a movie on the hd-dvd... Would make movie-based games even more interesting and possibly get them up to the level of 'enjoyable.' (Okay okay, there are a FEW that were fun.)

Advantage ... Blu-Ray?

[Alzheimers]

Assume, for a moment, that standard DVD's go away and we're left with Blu-Ray disks vs. HD-DVD/DVD Hybrids.

The HD-DVD Drive can read DVDs and the HD-DVD layer on the hybrid disks, but not Blu-Ray disks.

The Blu-ray player can read their own proprietary format, PLUS the DVD layer of the hybrid disk. Sony can now market it as the "Only 100% compatible" player, since their movies play fine, AND the HD-DVD/Hybrid movies play as well. Of course that would only be at DVD resolutions, which could be used to point out the inferiority of the HD-DVD/DVD system -- or don't you think marketdroids will confuse the issue for the common user?

Backwards compatibility is a bitch, especially when your competitors can take advantage too.

Re:Good news for Microsoft...

[aichpvee]

Both fail as video disc formats, BluRay survives as a niche recordable media format similar to DVD-RAM or Jazz disk.

Re:Blu-ray camp showed this at IFA 2005 !!!

[iainl]

1) No-one has made a hybrid disc for Blu-Ray and DVD yet, because (a) Sony can't get a second layer to work on Blu-Ray yet, (b) the disc isn't physically thick enough to make flippers, so two layers is your only option, (c) that means only 4.5Gb for the DVD layer, which isn't enough for most current DVD releases and (d) no-one at Blu-Ray can see eye to eye with the rest of the DVD Consortium to get permission to sell one anyway.

2) Sony could press you a dual-layer Blu-Ray, although it would cost you an arm and a leg because the yields are as bad as their laser diodes. But you wouldn't want them to, because no-one has a player that could read it; Samsung's drive is incapable of focussing on the second layer, and everyone else has put their release dates back repeatedly in the hope that someone can figure it out.

3) The full Java BD spec is written down, but neither the Samsung nor Pioneer's much delayed player implements it, only the light version.

So while Blu-Ray looks lovely on paper, it's pretty poor in comparison to HD-DVD out here in the real world right now.