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From C|Net

A group promoting and developing a format for a next-generation DVD technology announced on Wednesday the completion of the first version of the specification, paving the way for disk production.

The Blu-ray Disc Founders group said the physical format for the read-only version of Blu-ray Discs is complete, so manufacturers can begin preparing to produce disks. Players and discs are not expected to be available until late 2005. Other aspects of the read-only version, such as which codecs to support, have to be determined. Rewritable Blu-ray Discs and recorders are already available in Japan from Panasonic and Sony.

Blu-ray Disc, and rival format HD-DVD, are considered next-generation DVD technologies and are based on blue lasers. Current DVD technology is based on red lasers. The blue-laser technology will allow greater storage capacities, up to 50GB for dual-layer rewritable disks, compared with 4.7GB on current DVDs.

The two blue-laser formats are incompatible, but both are compatible with current DVD formats.

The Blu-ray Disc Founders group consists of 13 member companies: Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mitsubishi Electric, Pioneer, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp Electronics, Sony, TDK and Thomson.

Blu-ray Disc Founders has been working to add support from companies by opening up its membership ranks.

 

[doncale]

wait, I thought Blu-Ray has been out in Japan since last year, 2003....

how could the spec just now have been approved?

 

[MoxManiac]

It's the spec for the read-only version of Blu-Ray, not the re-writable version that's been out in Japan.

 

[doncale]

ah, ok that explains it, thx.

 

[xabre]

I thought a re-writable version was going to be standard, I didn't know there was even going to be a read only version. I thought one of the main points of blu-ray was to act as a replacement for VHS for recording high-definition video yet it seems that the re-writable models are going to be ridiculously expensive and that the read only models are going to be standard for a while. So it's going to be basically a higher rez DVD, with the extra space for holding high definition versions of movies many of us already own. Big deal.

 

[sohka88]

they need read only BR disks for movies and shit.

 

[Arcticfox]

I thought a re-writable version was going to be standard, I didn't know there was even going to be a read only version. I thought one of the main points of blu-ray was to act as a replacement for VHS for recording high-definition video yet it seems that the re-writable models are going to be ridiculously expensive and that the read only models are going to be standard for a while. So it's going to be basically a higher rez DVD, with the extra space for holding high definition versions of movies many of us already own. Big deal.

This is talking about a disk type, not the hardware. You need to have a read only disk for commercial movies or possible PS3 games. The hardware will still be able to record TV onto rewritable disks.

 

[xabre]

Ah ok. I got the impression there was going to be two different hardware models for read only and re-writable ala DVD.