At MEDIA-TECH's Barcelona conference and showcase, Sony DADC announced it has started an initiative to develop manufacturing technology and production equipment for Blu-ray's Dual Layer version offering a storage capability of 50GB.

Sony DADC has agreed to co-develop mass production technology for BD 50 with Singulus Technology from Germany and Oerlikon Balzers Coatings from Switzerland.

Both companies are system integrators of disc replication equipment. Singulus' BLUE-LINE II replication machines, available at the end of the year, "will enable replicators worldwide with the ability to manufacture pre-recorded BD Dual Layer in a short period of time," says Sony DADC CEO Dieter Daum.

Oerlikon and Singulus will design and manufacturer Dual Layer BD-ROM replication lines using experience and know-how from Sony.

The Blu-ray backers have identified the superior storage capability of their disc as a unique selling point of the format over the HD DVD competitor whose dual-layer version has a lower – 30GB – storage capability. At the press conference, Daum admitted that replicating BD Dual Layer was a challenging proposition for independent replicators, hoping that this initiative will address those concerns.

So far, 2.3 million BD Dual Layer discs – 25% of all BD titles – have been manufactured in Sony DADC's plants in the US (1.51m), Japan (440,000m) and Austria (350,000m) using the company's in-house-developed machinery.

Singulus had already cooperated with Sony Japan for the development of Blu-ray Discs single layer (25GB) at the end of 2004. In 2005 and 2006, Singulus delivered production equipment for BD single layer to all major disc manufacturers. Some 18m BD Single Layer have already been produced to date.

Story filed 06.03.07