3Layer
Latest
Pioneer and Buffalo announce first 128GB BDXL optical disc burners for PCs
The dream of burning 128GB of PC data onto a single optical disc just took a step closer to reality with the announcement of this BDXL burner (model BDR-206MBK) from Pioneer. Buffalo will ship it as both an external USB 2.0 model (BRXL-6U2) and internal SATA model (BRXL-6FBS-BK). The drive handles new 4-layer (128GB) and 3-layer (100GB) BD-R XL at 4x speeds in addition to 3-layer BD-RE XL and older BD-R/BD-R DL and BD-RE/BD-RE DL Blu-ray disc media. Pioneer will begin shipping the drive in November for an undisclosed price -- no word on pricing from Buffalo or when it'll have its act together to ship product.
Toshiba & Memory-Tech unveil new triple-layer DVD TWIN disc
Toshiba has unveiled a new flavor of HD DVD that they plan to present to the DVD forum, a single-sided triple layer HD DVD/DVD disc, capable of either a dual-layer 30GB HD DVD and single-layer 4.7GB configuration or single-layer 15GB HD DVD and dual-layer 8.5 GB DVD. This is a change from the original DVD TWIN standard that only allowed for two layers, one HD DVD and on DVD, on the same side of the disc. This is also different from the combo discs released by Warner and Universal here in the US, as those discs are dual-sided. DVD TWIN format movies have only been released in Japan by publisher Pony Canyon, at least partially due to concerns that not all DVD players will be able to read them without problems. As such, we probably will continue to not see these released over here, either way, if they want dual-format discs to to speed HD DVD growth having discs that don't require flipping to view DVD extras is a welcome advance but how about lowering the price?
