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Panasonic has announced that they will be releasing firmware updates that will add support for LTH BD-R media to their DIGA line of Blu-ray recorders. From AV Watch:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/ ... 1/pana.htm

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is five models of Blu-ray Disc recorder "Blue lei DIGA", and the software update that enables record/reproduction of the BD-R disk of the LTH type that adopts an organic coloring matter system material begins one by one on the 26th.

The target models are five products (DMR-BW200 and DMR-BR100 of the sale in new blue lei DIGA, DMR-BW900/BW800/BW700 of the sale in 2007, and 2006) in total. The firmware is downloaded with download and the personal computer by ground/BS digital broadcasting, and two kinds of the method of doing the update work with DIGA are prepared.

The software updata of DMR-BW900/BW800/BW700 executes the download offer by the broadcasting wave from November 26 to January 6, 2008. The updata offer in the support page begins on the 26th, too.

Panasonic website:

http://panasonic.jp/support/bd/info/download.html

I'm surprised that they're doing this. Is LTH BD-R media even available yet?

It's just about ready for release. It was expected to be out at the end of this quarter, but more likely it's being held back until early next year to make sure compatability is improved first.

These LHT type BD-R's manufactured with an organic dye are bad news . . .

Organic always decays slowly (if not fast !)

frank1 wrote:These LHT type BD-R's manufactured with an organic dye are bad news . . .

Organic always decays slowly (if not fast !)

It's a double edged sword... the organic dye will be much cheaper, and allow for mass adoption a lot faster.

I just hope that they continue to offer the anorganic dye as well, for archival purposes.

dolphinius_rex wrote:I just hope that they continue to offer the anorganic dye as well, for archival purposes.

I hope also

They won't. Or it'll be prohibitively expensive.

I think this is a bad thing for BluRay, we've had recordable DVDs for years and the quality is just getting worse and worse. Now we can lose 25/50GB of data at once instead of just 4/8!

I was really looking forward to burning BluRay discs knowing the dye problems of the past were gone. Now we're just doomed to repeat them. Can't wait to see the quality Imation or Memorex discs!

Well, I'll be pushing Verbatmi to keep the option open.... I don't know if it'll work, but I've got one or two contacts with some pull over there. For the moment we have to wait for the new product to be released however.... and tested!

The first BD-R dics were manufactured and tested by Sony and TDK in Japan already around 2003
according to informations like here:
http://www.compoundsemi.com/documents/articles/gsedoc/6598.html

The high-sensitivity inorganic recording material utilized by TDK for the write-once type BD-R is completely different than the recording materials used for CD or DVD.
TDK Blu-ray Discs' inorganic material is impervious to light, making the discs exceptionally well suited for archiving data.
Composed of copper and silicon, TDK's exclusive CuSi recording material delivers remarkable, long-lasting performance.
The recording material enables fast recording and playback speeds and also makes it possible to realize massive capacities through multi-layering.

Blu-ray Discs were originally released in Japan in April of 2003 with a protective cartridge. The cartridge was necessary in order to protect the recording material, which is manufactured close to the Blu-ray disc's surface in order to realize the disc's high density recording capabilities

it seems to me that (except for the improved Durabis hard coating used for recent BD-R)
the first cartridge BD-R disks were manufactured with the same type of inorganic dye
(« TDK's exclusive CuSi recording material »)
as the recent Blu-Ray 25 GB BD-R disks sold today without cartridge for the public.

So there is a least a 4 years experience sibe the first BD-R's
and this type of dye « CuSi recording material » in the professional world !


Does anybody know:
if there are any reports since 2003
from professional users
about:
- the long time conservation of data burned on the TDK BD-R cartridge disks manufactured since 2003
- and the stability of this special inorganic dye « TDK's exclusive CuSi recording material »



This type of CuSi recording material is still used for the manufacturing of the "true" TDK BD-R disks
as I reported here:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21454

Until BD-R's become more common place, we probably aren't going to see any logevity studies. Look at recordable DVD's. It took probably 6 years before we saw a decent one.

Another thing to consider is the recording speeds. Can the LTH discs be written to as fast as the inorganics?

I've heard of problems with power level issues with TDK BD-Rs, but nothing about disc longevity specifically.

Thanks for your answers !

I tried to buy some TDK BD-R 2x 25 GB but I found that the TDK brand for Blu-Ray is not easy to find in retail shops.

So I hope that the other good brands available (mainly Sony and Verbatim)
are manufactured with exactly the same type of inorganic dye : « CuSi recording material »
and also a good hard coating for protection . . .

In this japanese collection of BD-R discs by YSS:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/yss/bluray/bluray01.htm
you can find 2 types of TDK BD-R 25 GB (single layer) 2x certified speed


TDK BDD-R25S

TDK BDV-R25S



Both have exactly the same identification under DVD Identifier:

Unique Disc Identifier : [BD-R-SL:TDKBLD-RBA-000]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type : [BD-R SL : Class 0 - Version 1]
Manufacturer Name : [TDK Corp.]
Manufacturer ID : [TDKBLD]
Media Type ID : [RBA]
Product Revision : [000]
Stamper Date : [Not Present On Disc]
Layer Info : [1 Layer (L0) : 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB) Per Layer]
Blank Disc Capacity : [12,219,392 Sectors = 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB)]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2x]



For their DVD's TDK had always wtritten in the right corner of the jewel case « Data /Video »

So does anybody know if there might be any difference in quality between BD-R discs for Data and the ones for video ?

All the others brands on the page of YSS: Panasonic, Sony, Maxell, Fujifilm, ....
have only one type of BD-R 2x 25 GB

frank1 wrote:So does anybody know if there might be any difference in quality between BD-R discs for Data and the ones for video ?

Who knows. I've always considered it to be a marketing gimmic.