What's the latest on the war between BlueRay and HD-DVD? Does the DV Mag article have any opinions or projections? Are we in for another 5 years of problems, just the same DVD-R/+R song all over again just with a different set of names?

2G

I suspect that's why you don't see much DL media on the shelves. It's probably more quirky than anticipated.

First: DL does NOT need to burn both sides completely, the rule is that the data must be balanced across both layers. There is no requirement to burn both sides completely.

Second: Compability issues are a way of life with burned disks, regardless of dual vs. single. Without providing any data on what burners were used, what software, etc! All we have to do is look at the DVDA forum and see the problems that people are having with SL and we can tell in general that none of this is ready for prime time is that's how you want to interpret things.

I've done some DL research and testing; one of the most difficult players I have had no problems reading a DL burn I recently did - in fact it went so well that I could not detect the layer break even though I was looking for it.

First, you need a burner that will write a booktype of DVD-ROM - DL disks have been assigned a new booktype which most players don't recognize! A lot of the burner companies are providing this capability by default with their burners (finally having learned the lesson when +R first came out) but there are still some that don't, so that's probably a big area that's causing compatability issues.

Second, you need some software that knows how to burn DL correctly and how to insert the layer break if your authoring software doesn't. There is software available, but you have to check it out to be sure it does what is claimed.

--Scott

The view from someone (not me) that works closely with the factories that ultimatley have to press these thing is that neither they or Hollywood have any interest in BluRay. Simplest issue is the cost of tooling up. The money has been spent on red laser capable plant and there's nothing in the kitty to replace literaly thousands of presses.
HD DVD on the other hand can be mastered and pressed in existing Nimbus equipment, in other words they don't have to spend a dime to make these DVDs. If you were in their position I think you'd be going down the same path.
I do think BluRay will have its place but not in the consummer world, it's a viable alternative to tape in the ENG market although Pannys P2 solid state stuff might give it serious competition, it's more expensive but should be more reliable and faster to transfer which is a big issue for ENG.
Bob.

ScottW:

I didn't know that (that you didn't need to burn to the ends of each layer), and the articles I've read haven't mentioned that, either.

So maybe the idea is that the authoring software has to make sure that slightly more than half of the total project gets written to layer0 so that it can be guaranteed that layer1 can hold the remainder? So in that case only layer1 has to be burned all the way to completion.

As for single-layer compatibility, I've personally done over 500 DVD-R blanks to date, with 3 rejects, and none of the rejects were due to the disks (two players were old DVD units that hated burned disks in general, and the third was a PlayStation that simply wouldn't play any -R disk). So my assumption is that, with the proper mix of blanks, burner, and burning software, DVD-R is pretty bulletproof. But this dual-layer test was an eye-opener, particularly since the writer is someone who knows infinitely more about this topic than I ever will.

Oh--I forgot to mention in my original post--the author recommends buying a DL burner anyway, in part because he believes doing so will accelerate the resolution of the compatibility issue.

i'm betting that Sony wil try to market Blueray for movie studios to use in sending movies to theatures & such. More space = higher quality. As long as they let other companies make the equipment, i think they'd be golden.

Wasn't IBM & Sony messing with blue ray disks almost a decade ago too?

Neither layer must be fully burned. The idea is that the authoring/burning software must be able to correctly split the entire project in half and then place the layer switch at the correct point in the data stream.