In September we reported that Warner Brothers had been developing a hybrid disc capable of storing both HD DVD and Blu-ray data on the single side of a disc.
WB have now formally introduced these discs - named Total HD - at CES 2007.
(Of course, back in September we also reported on another triple layer format - no news on that yet)
"The new discs will be compatible with both Blu-ray and HD DVD players and may end the war between the two emerging formats. The initial dual-format Total HD disc should include a Blu-ray and an HD DVD layer, but eventually it may gain the third layer and provide DVD-compliance as well.
Both Blu-ray and HD DVD use 405nm wavelength laser to read data from the recordable media of the discs. However, the data layer of the Blu-ray discs is located 0.1mm from the disk’s surface, whereas the HD-DVD data layer resides 0.6mm deep from the disk’s surface. Warner’s engineers plan to create a disc with a Blu-ray top layer that works like a two-way mirror: it should reflect just enough blue light for a Blu-ray player to read, but it should also let enough light through for HD-DVD players to ignore the Blu-ray recording and find a second HD-DVD layer beneath, it was reported earlier. Theoretically, triple-layer DVDs can be created too, if DVD layer is located on the other side to the Blu-ray and HD DVD layers."
Far from making the consumer's life any easier, we now have more choices to boggle the mind. Do you pay more up front for a dual format player, or pay more for each film on dual format discs (that is, assuming they even get wide acceptance from anyone other than WB)
(Via GotFrag)
Related stories: Triple-layer HD DVD hybrid format to ease transition | Warner looks at triple hybrid disc
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