JVC announces first rewritable single-sided dual layer DVDs
By Conrad Quilty-Harper 
posted Aug 31st 2007 3:30PM
posted Aug 31st 2007 3:30PM
Inventing the dual layer DVD-RW standard may seem like an extreme example of too little too late in the days of 15GB+ HD DVD and 25GB+ Blu-ray, but JVC has gone ahead and done it anyway. Hitting up the same 8.5GB capacity as regular double layer DVD-RWs and dual layer DVD-RWs, the JVC discs come with a specially hardened coating which is apparently "150 times" more effective than the coating on plain old DVDs. Unfortunately, the new format requires entirely new burners, is only available at 2x write speeds, and no shipping dates or details are available. Sounds like JVC's got a winner on its hands ... yeah.
great timing!
Well, it's late, but at least it should be more affordable than HD-DVD and Blu-ray burning.
Too bad current writers can't use it though. I won't be purchasing a new burner for this. However, the next time I *do* get a new burner, I will look for DVD-RW compatibility.
Dual layer discs are great...IF you can find a DVD player that can play them! The DVD+RW Alliance claimed the dual format discs would be playable on any DVD+R player, but guess what?! NOT! I'm in video production, and being able to make dual-layer discs for people would be great but if they won't work in all +R players it's rather pointless. I had to take a disc to Best Buy and try every player until I found one that worked! If you're just using them for personal storage, they're fine but anything else is dicey at best.
Sounds cool, but DL DVD's are still to expensive as it is. It's far cheaper to use 2 DVD's then 1 DL DVD. I can only Imagine what one of these Disc's would cost. I'd like to see the prices greatly decrease on DL DVD's first if anything. Don't need a new drive to use them on.
Dual layer, write-once blanks aren't that expensive, I've seen them for less than $1 US a blank when bought in a bundle. Sure, it's cheaper to use two separate single layer blanks, but there's the convenience factor to consider.
The only reason I didn't use DL blanks is because I didn't need them and I saw a test that showed that the second layer showed a higher error rate. I didn't look it up lately, but if I needed DL, then I'd go back and see if it's any better.