Dual Layer DVD Burners Coming in 2 Months!

[bigb_y2g]

Our prayers have been answered!

NEW YORK - If you just bought a DVD-burning drive for your computer and think that for once you're current with the latest and greatest, it's disappointment time. Manufacturers are soon launching drives that can store double the amount of data on a disc.

Sony Electronics says it will be shipping drives in about two months that accept blank DVDs with two data layers. Philips Electronics will start selling a similar drive in Europe in April, but is not saying when it will be available in the United States.

The write-once discs can store up to 8.5 gigabytes of data, or about 4 hours of DVD-quality movies, twice the capacity of regular blank DVDs. This means capacities for computer-burned DVDs are catching up with prerecorded movie DVDs, many of which are already dual-layer.

The new technology is sure to appeal to those who back up or copy movie DVDs, since they often have to reduce image quality or remove special features to fit a copied movie onto a single-layer disc. With a dual-layer drive, an exact copy on a single disc should be possible.

(The software used to copy encrypted movie DVDs is illegal in the United States, according to recent court rulings.)

The two layers of the new discs are accessed from the same side — there is no need to flip the disc over to record to the second layer. Instead, a laser beam shines through the first layer to record on the second.

Sony will sell an internal drive for $230 and an external one for $330. They will be marketed only for Windows PCs, but the external one should work on Macintosh (news - web sites) computers with the proper third-party software.

Philips will sell two internal drives with somewhat different features, both for PCs. U.S. prices have not been set.

The drives will be able to burn regular write-once and rewritable DVDs and CDs as well.

The Sony and Philips drives will use somewhat different discs. Sony calls its variant DVD-R DL. The Philips equivalent is DVD+R DL. Both disc types should be readable in standard DVD drives and players.

Sony estimates the blank discs will cost $5 to $6. Philips does not have an estimate yet.

The dual-layer discs will be slower to burn than single-layer discs — the drives will be rated as burning at 2.4 times faster than playback speed, versus eight times for single-layer discs.

A full 8.5 gigabytes will take about 45 minutes to burn.

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/4532

[Don2050]

I havnt posted here in almost a year.... saw the same news blurb and had to come post too... you beat me to it

Man I remember arguing when and if these things were going to come out.

here is another link http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20040317_160409.html


Seems the supporters were right after all.

[KDH]

Our prayers have been answered!


The Sony and Philips drives will use somewhat different discs. Sony calls its variant DVD-R DL. The Philips equivalent is DVD+R DL. Both disc types should be readable in standard DVD drives and players.



http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/4532

Wrong! Both drives will use DVD+R DL discs.

PS this "news" is months old!

KDH

[Punkydefrag]

Why does anyone want a dual Layer DVD burner? I think and have tested my single layer DVD's, using DVD Shrink to be pretty damn good for quality and never had a to remove or shrink enough to make the DVD turn out bad!!!!! Except when I want to back up, lets say Gettysburg, I would like to have the quality better for putting the disk onto one side instead of flipping it over, then I could see where anyone would like this type of Drive!!

Beside's, we'd have to wait for the disks to come out before we could use it! And it would be nice for both DVD-R and DVD+R or all the available disk to be used

[fyson]

with the blanks costing $5-6US a pop coming from Australia it would mean $10 a disk + burner costs, it is almost worth buying a original "BACKUP" copy. But prices will come down pretty soon

[Red96TA]

$5-$6/disk with no doubt MAJOR compatibility issues

It may come out, but like everything, it'll take a year or two before compatibility and price find a happy medium.

I can't afford $5 coasters...ack...I can barely afford $1 ones

[ricky1756]

Punkydefrag wrote" I would like to have the quality better for putting the disk onto one side instead of flipping it over, then I could see where anyone would like this type of Drive!! "


you're mistaking dual-layer for double-sided. two completely different things

[CloudBurst]

Well Sony said that thier disks will cost 5-6 dollars, no doubt that is the retail price for 1 of thier disks. However other brands have consistantly cost less then sony's disks when bought online, and in bulk...so they might be somewhere between 2-3 dollars a disk. Also a good idea would be to buy a few and use single sided disks for the backups you can get away with and only use the dual layer for the really big backups.

[Capmaster]

I wonder if the MPAA will renew their efforts to introduce a "sin tax" on these blanks similar to the tax on blank CDs in Sweden and other parts of europe? They would assume the customer is guilty of piracy and charge a "pirating" tax on each and every blank. In the past having PC burners limited to a single layer has meant that the quality of a full movie couldn't be duplicated and appeased the MPAA somewhat. Now with the burners matching the format of the majority of commercial titles out there they will probably get their panties bunched again :P

[Tom Roper]

Anybody know what software they will use to author and burn the new dual layer disks?

[misterchuckles]

Cool idea but this should have happened at least a year ago. DVD-Rs and DVD+R are so cheap now, why bother paying five or six bucks for a single disc when you can pay less than two bucks for two discs?? Honestly, Sony and the other companies should be concentrating their efforts on Blu-Ray technology and push DVDs beyond the <9GB limit.

[drewson99]

Punkydefrag wrote" I would like to have the quality better for putting the disk onto one side instead of flipping it over, then I could see where anyone would like this type of Drive!! "


you're mistaking dual-layer for double-sided. two completely different things

Actually, what I got from his statement was that instead of burning to a dual-sided disc, that he would prefer to burn to a single sided dual layer disc. I don't think he is confused.

[mob]

ahhh yes, seems only just yesterday everyone on this forum would have bet their bottom dollar that double layer dvd-r's would never exist since double layer dvds have to be factory pressed together....

my my my.... how the hands have turned...

[spiderman2k1]

Sony drives are crap. I'll wait for LG to come out or Pioneer or even a 8.5 -+ duel drive

[dcsos]

The two layers of the new discs are accessed from the same side — there is no need to flip the disc over to record to the second layer. Instead, a laser beam shines through the first layer to record on the second.

If this is true

then we need the following

1. NOW WE KNOW YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BACK UP A DUAL LAYER MOVIE
direcrtly to this FORMAT because its totally different..You'll definitely have to FLIP the disc so the player can read it NO?
AM I MISSING SOMETHING

AND NO ONE HAS even begun to announce AUTHORING or BURNING programs
as those out there WILL NOT DO!

[Iron_Monkey]

I'm not disappointed at all that I bought a single-layer burner just months before dual-layer burners come out. In fact, I knew they were coming out and had intended to buy a cheap, yet decent, burner in the NEC ND-2500A for just $92 from newegg, just to use for now until technology improves and the prices go down on the dual-layer burners. Remember Plextor's PX708A that was selling for well over $200 a month or two ago? They're considerably cheaper now. And before long that's what's gonna happen too with dual-layer burners. It's inevitable.

[dcsos]

Sonic introduces advanced technology for DVD+R double layer recording
Wednesday, 24 March 2004

Sonic Solutions announced that it has expanded its industry-leading HyperMux DVD formatting technology to include advanced algorithms specifically designed to support the new DVD+R Double Layer recording format.

looks like the first new program has ARRIVED..now incorporate this into BURN programs out there and you can burn..I wonder if the SONY 'll ship with SONIC engine bundled? They gotta give you something to make a new burner burn!!@!!!
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.asp?RelatedID=5146

[KDH]

Nero announced weeks ago that they will soon support DVD+R DL.
If you actually read the link on the top post on this thread it says that the Sony drive will be bundled with it

[Don2050]

I see not much has changed here, a new technology and way of doing things comes out giving us more options and people bash it

Ohh well, I just thought it was great to have put a debate that went on a year or 2 ago about the viability of producing one of these to rest.

[dcsos]

If you actually read the link on the top post on this thread

I had seen the article linked before I got to your post, but had forgotton the dtails about nero's bundled update, THANKS...

[Tom Roper]

Sounds like no TMPGEnc DVD Author for Dual Layer anytime soon

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your mail.

You wrote:


> Will TMPGEnc DVD Author support writing on the soon to arrive dual layer media
and burners?

Unfortunately, we do not support the dual layers burning for the moment,
maybe in future version.


Best regards,

--------------------------------------------------------------
Pegasys Inc.
(Hifan Lim)
Support Section
--------------------------------------------------------------

[marvel2020]

I see the major companies have found another way of screwing customers out of there money. Well this is one customer who won't be screwed.

Nope not this time, i'm a gonna wait untill there are are 16xspeed and you can get discs for next to nothing.

So all them companies can kiss my ass.