Panasonic develop 4x 50GB Blu-ray disc
Since we revealed Panasonic's plans for a 4x speed Blu-ray recorder, it's no surprise that the company has developed a software format to support it. The new write-once Blu-ray disc features a 4x writing speed that's faster than other high-definition disc formats, which generally use 2x writing speeds.
In addition, the disc is available in 25GB or 50GB using a dual layer, which will be supported by Panasonic's upcoming recorder and basically doubles the storage capacity without having to turn the disc over during recording.
Panasonic plans to release the 25GB disc later this month while we'll have to wait until September for the 50GB version. The discs have a maximum transfer speed of 144MB per second, which means that 1GB can be written onto disc in only one minute.
Speed is important for high-definition discs, especially if they are going to be used for storage as well as play films. Panasonic says the latest discs feature new technology that reduces the error rate to one-tenth of a conventional disc, which should mean better reliability and higher quality recording.
Panasonic claims to be the first company to develop a 4x Blu-ray disc that can store 50GB.
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