Blu-ray Discs ready for mass production

[iceman]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23482

Original press release:
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/assets/do...0525-12993.pdf

[erdega79]

That's good news. Here is more about the cost


Blu-ray media to be priced in line with DVDs

Hollywood (CA) - More capacity, same price. The Blu-ray Disc Association said today that the long-term cost of manufacturing BD-ROM discs with capacities of will be in line with current DVD replication costs. 25 and 50 GByte media will become available this year, BD discs with up to 200 GByte are currently completing lab testing.

The cost to commercialize a new technology often decides over success or failure of a new product. The Blu-ray Disc Association appears to have made a significant step into a direction that will offer more than five times the storage space of today's DL DVD media on and keep manufacturing cost at about the same level. The organization today said that multiple companies involved with each step have contributed to process improvements and cost efficiencies

There are a lot of companies trying to stake out a position in various aspects of BD-ROM manufacturing," said Kazuhiro Tsuga, executive officer of Matsushita Electric. "As a result, we are seeing multitudes of improvements in processes and technology, as well as the effects of economies of scale that make replication extremely cost effective."

According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, the most recent advances have happened in the area of cover-layer technology, where one of two approaches, film bonding and spin coating, can be used to apply the 0.1 mm cover-layer used for Blu-ray discs.

The spin-coating process uses resin to form the cover-layer and is currently being piloted in Torrance, California by Panasonic.

Competition in film bonding, which is based on extruded film technology, apparently also has resulted in innovation and reduced manufacturing cost. A new film product from Teijin reduces the cost of the cover film to one-third of the cost of conventional polycarbonate materials. Germany-based Degussa believes that Blu-ray discs will be able to be mass-produced in the single-digit Euro cents range at launch. Production yields are expected to exceed 90 percent.

Commercial mass production of Blu-ray media will begin after the completion of pilot production in July of this year. Initial production will include 25 GByte and 50 GByte media with tests of 200 GByte discs already being completed in labs, the Blu-ray Disc Association said. Availability of such capacities will be offered "depending on needs," the organization said.

At this time it is not clear whether content providers will keep pricing of commercial products such as movie BDs stable as well.