Sharp to Launch 100GB Blu-ray Disc, Recorders

Jul 16, 2010 18:52 Tomohiro Ootsuki, Nikkei Electronics

Sharp Corp will release a triple-layer Blu-ray disc with a capacity of 100 Gbytes July 30, 2010, in Japan.

The disc, "VR-100BR1," is the world's first medium that supports the "BDXL," a new standard for the Blu-ray Disc. The expected street price of the VR-100BR1 is ¥5,000 (approx US$57.5).

In addition, Sharp announced that the "BD-HDW700" and "BD-HDW70" Blu-ray recorders will support the BDXL. The two recorders will be released on the same day as the VR-100BR1 at expected street prices of ¥300,000 and ¥200,000, respectively.

The recorders were developed by Pioneer Digital Design & Manufacturing Corp, a joint venture of Pioneer Corp and Sharp. Pioneer and Sharp contributed 66% and 34%, respectively, of the capital stock.

Sharp will release the VR-100BR1 but does not manufacture it. And the company declined to disclose the name of the manufacturer.

As an advantage of the high capacity of 100 Gbytes, Sharp said, "Eleven installments of a drama can be recorded on one disc in the DR mode, which does not change image quality." The company plans to make all of its Blu-ray recorders to be released in 2011 support the BDXL.

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