Sony increasing Blu-ray capacity

[scottw182]

Sony has devised a method to pack 33.4GB of data per Blu-ray Disc layer.

That's basically the gist of it, but you can read the (short) article here.

[kupomogli]

Would this be at the cost of lower speeds?

[scottw182]

I wouldn't think so, but I'm no expert. Didn't DVD start at a lower capacity and gradually increase? If so, did the speeds lower as the capacity increased?

[Zoltor]

Meh, doesn't matter, because instead of using the space to make better, and longer games, developers are just gonna use it for their crappy movies/CGs.

[Rickstilwell1]

hmm if they can find developers who would take the time to make bigger longer games, they might have something here.

[Bojay1997]

Would this be at the cost of lower speeds?

Nope. A higher density disc would have the same seek/read speed as a lower density disc. If anything, it might actually be slightly quicker because the laser and optical reader have to travel less distance. The only real bump you might have is with a layer switch, but developers are smart enough to treat layer changes pretty much the same way they have always treated additional discs (i.e., you don't do a layer change in the middle of a streaming CGI sequence or at a critical load point), so it would be completely unnoticeable.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I wouldn't think so, but I'm no expert. Didn't DVD start at a lower capacity and gradually increase? If so, did the speeds lower as the capacity increased?

Nope, DVDs have always had two capacities: Single Layer or Double Layer. And of course, two possible sides.

[XYXZYZ]

I want a Blu-Ray writer to make 33GB backup discs. That is all.

[gokugohandave]

^
This.

[Kyle15]

Meh, doesn't matter, because instead of using the space to make better, and longer games, developers are just gonna use it for their crappy movies/CGs.

You don't always need more space for "longer" games.
IMO, long games =/= good games. Panzer Dragoon Saga is shorter than a lot of other RPGs but just as good.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I want a Blu-Ray writer to make 33GB backup discs. That is all.

They already exist, but have you seen the price of BluRay media? MSRP is $20 per disc! Amazon sells them for $9, and that's a SINGLE LAYER DISC!

[Leo_A]

I wish companies would take advantage of Blu-Ray's storage capacity with standard definition video content. Seems to have largely been ignored to this point besides for bonus features in some HD releases.

I'd love to be able to purchase season sets of classic television shows on single disc. Most stuff doesn't benefit much from HD, such as the many videotaped shows from the 70s and 80s.

And shows prior to that, even though they could take advantage of it due to being filmed, would require expensive mastering and restoration cost that most of these companies wouldn't consider (Look at season 1 of Room 222 on DVD for example, bright vibrant colors and a very sharp picture when originally aired, but Fox's video masters of it today look horrible and they refuse to go back to the original masters and start from scratch, let alone do restoration work).

Seems like it would be the only hope to get many shows like Gunsmoke (20 seasons), Lassie (19 seasosn), Ozzie and Harriet (14 seasons), Bonanza (14 seasons), My Three Sons (12 seasons), etc. Instead, we've had about 5 seasons worth combined of all these shows on DVD to this point, much of it just due to the manufacturing cost and massive number of DVD's for shows than ran so many seasons (~40 shows a season in this era for half hour series, over 30 for hour long series). And these are some of the most popular television series of the 1960s.

I can't imagine much classic television shows and movies ever seeing true HD releases, beyond the most popular series such as I Love Lucy that are guaranteed sellers, and movies like It's a Wonderful Life that are still widely known and loved. With that in mind, I hope some of these companies consider standard definition releases of non HD classic content in the future and actually take advantage of this format in a unique way.

[Raedon]

I want a Blu-Ray writer to make 33GB backup discs. That is all.

I found it cheaper and easier to just buy on-sale External Hard Drives then any burnable media.

[Cornelius]

I agree that BRD releases of SD shows would be good, but I'd also still hope that filmed shows will be released in HD. I haven't seen it, but the BRD release of The Prisoner is supposed to be fantastic. More of that would be good.

[Leo_A]

I agree that BRD releases of SD shows would be good, but I'd also still hope that filmed shows will be released in HD. I haven't seen it, but the BRD release of The Prisoner is supposed to be fantastic. More of that would be good.

I agree

There's no doubt the treatment things like The Prisoner and the original Star Trek have recieved is preferable and is a proper way to treat these classics, but i think they will remain sad rarities. I don't see much beyond guaranteed sellers like the Twilight Zone (All but confirmed now for Blu-Ray) and I Love Lucy ever getting HD transfers with the necessary restoration work to make it look pristine again.

I don't see the situation looking much better for classic movies. Just look at all the amazing classics that can't even get a proper restoration and pressed DVD release by Warner, just for one example in the DVD marketplace. There's some great classics that we're only getting due to Warner's Archive program of produced on demand DVDr's. And often, they're not even going back to the original prints. We're getting 20-30 year old laserdisc transfers and other nonsense from the Warner Archive program. Doesn't leave out much hope for 99% of this stuff ever seeing the treatment films like North by Northwest and It's a Wonderful Life have on Blu-Ray when the cost are a magnitude higher to do HD transfers and restoration work with a much smaller market.

With DVD's future looking disappointing for classic content, the thoughts of what Blu-Ray could do for SD content is enticing to me. Take I Love Lucy for one example. I suspect the entire series could be released on around 5 blu-rays, versus well over 30 DVD's. Seems like if Blu-Ray ever reaches enough homes and the cost of disc declines more, it could be a viable way to significant reduce production cost for standard definition content by eliminating oversized packaging and greatly cutting down on the amount of disc that have to be pressed.

[DonMarco]

They already exist, but have you seen the price of BluRay media? MSRP is $20 per disc! Amazon sells them for $9, and that's a SINGLE LAYER DISC!

HD DVD will rise again!

Or at least I can hope it will, right?

[scottw182]

I wish companies would take advantage of Blu-Ray's storage capacity with standard definition video content. Seems to have largely been ignored to this point besides for bonus features in some HD releases.

Man, that would be great, whole series on 1 disc.

[BetaWolf47]

I agree with Blu-ray needing standard definition releases with massive amounts of content. A lot of stuff really doesn't benefit from HD, such as some of the lesser animated shows. I'm sure a lot of PS3-owning kids with SDTVs would be delighted to have an entire season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on one disc.

[chrisbid]

Meh, doesn't matter, because instead of using the space to make better, and longer games, developers are just gonna use it for their crappy movies/CGs.

and charge an extra 10 dollars per game

[Zoltor]

and charge an extra 10 dollars per game

Lol yea, sad but true.