QOL, the French independent replicator, obtained the certification for Blu-ray double-layer discs (50GB) issued by the Blu-ray Disc Association on 16 April.

QOL was the first independent replicator to have invested in excess of €6 million in Blu-ray equipment in August 2007. It has two Singulus lines fully operational, BD testing equipment from Datarius and a packaging machine from Gima.

With its new BD 50 capability, QOL says it offers an alternative [to Sony DADC] to independent publishers and studios in the European market. The company has already pressed some twenty BD titles, including Arthur et les Minimoys, Ne le dis à personne, Taxi 4 and Les Choristes

Laurent Villaume, QOL CEO, says: "With the honorable decision of Toshiba to pull out of the high definition disc market, thus removing any obstacle to the successful development of the Blu-ray format, we wanted to position QOL, a long-time partner to the cinema and video industry, as the pioneer of the new format in France and in Europe. We now have a manufacturing capacity in excess of 1 million disc per month.

"It is three years of research and development to we offer our clients, an effort rewarded with the BDA certification for BD50," adds Villaume. QOL was fully certified for the production of single-layer Blu-ray disc (25GB) on 17 December.

The BDA is the body that grants the Official Certification only to those replicators that manufacture Blu-ray discs and fulfill all necessary requirements for the production of the high definition discs.

Story filed 25.04.08