Singulus Technologies Announcement Puts the Industry on the Cusp of 4K Blu-ray Produc

[JimShaw]

Just picked this up on HT Forum
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In 2002 the DVD world was set on fire by the announcement of a new technology specification dubbed Blu-ray. Offering nearly 5 times the storage capacity of a traditional DVD (25 GB single layer, 50 GB dual layer), the format opened the gateway to the distribution of high definition material. Nearly four years later Blu-ray disc players emerged on an international scale and the rest is history. Along the way we’ve witnessed the defeat of a rival format called HD-DVD and the arrival of streaming video (which has given surviving physical media formats their own challenges), but until now Blu-ray has remained the best way to deliver true 1080p content.



The electronics industry and consumers are now staring a new beast in the face: 4K Ultra High Definition. As we all know, you must feed the beast to keep him happy, and this beast needs food that is hard to find. After all, what good is a 4K display without a true 4K source? Currently, there are only two viable options to deliver 4K content in-home: Redray and Sony’s Ultra High Definition Media Player. Both units are hard-drive based technologies and from the looks of things these and any other forthcoming 4K drive based units will have to hold down the proverbial fort for the foreseeable future. Blu-ray discs, in their current state, aren’t able to hold enough information to store 4K material and the Blu-ray Disc Association (a standards based organization made-up of over 150 players in the electronics industry) has yet to officially unveil a 4K Blu-ray standard.

This all could be changing, though, and quickly. Several days ago the German company Singulus Technologies (developer of production processes for optical disc, solar technologies, and semiconductors) made a bombshell announcement concerning a new production/replication line they have developed dubbed BLULINE III, meant for the manufacturing of triple-layer Blu-ray discs able to store 100GB of data. This means mass production of discs capable of holding 4K material is on the horizon.

"Just in time for the market introduction of the new ultra-high definition television technology (4K or Ultra-HD), we completed the development of the production technology for the new triple-layer Blu-ray Discs with 100 GB storage capacity,” said Dr. Stefan Rinck, CEO of Singulus Technologies.

Pair this announcement with the recent news that HDMI 2.0 technology (which allows for high frame rate delivery of 4K material through one cord) is officially a reality, and we can most certainly expect the Blu-Ray Disc Association to announce 4K Blu-ray disc standards soon.

Ultra High Definition and its associated products are hot items for manufacturers, and could be a huge cash-cow if the technology becomes popular. The reasons are only obvious. True 4K sourced material will require players capable of HDMI 2.0 output, receivers capable of HDMI 2.0 pass-through, and displays that can handle the signal as well. Don’t forget the source material. We’ve seen hints of release refreshes through Sony’s “Mastered in 4K” series on Blu-ray. Just imagine the windfall movie houses will realize once they are able to re-release past Blu-ray titles on a true 4K medium.

Tighten your seat belts, the ride is only beginning.

m