Blu-ray Manufacturers Testing New Materials

Sabic Innovative Plastics is currently testing six different optical-quality grades of Noryl for a possible replacement of the polycarbonate used during the production of Blu-ray discs. Because data is written so close to the surface of a Blu-ray disc, it is not required that the material on the surface be transparent, as is the case with current DVD production. Greg Harley, an engineer at Sabic commented, "With DVDs, the laser is reading through a substrate, so the material has to be transparent. You can use an opaque material, or any color you want, with a Blu-ray disc." Noryl has many advantages over polycarbonate, including that it doesn't absorb moisture and can be cheaper to produce. This means that not only can certain steps of the manufacturing process be eliminated, but also that the overall cost of materials can be reduced. Both allow for huge savings on large scale production.
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CptGreedle  » Apr 03, 2008
This will be awesome when it is fully developed and implemented. New BD discs that are more scratch resistant, and cost less. And can even be colored.

RickD  » Apr 03, 2008
Lets hope they are 100% compatible, otherwise it will be a nightmare.

haste  » Apr 03, 2008
Nice. Blu-ray getting better by the day...bye bye DVD!

AikonEnt  » Apr 03, 2008
If it reduces costs so BD's are cheaper to produce than DVD's that can only be good for us consumers.

Rike255  » Apr 03, 2008
Cool multi color BD's!! Hopefully lower costs for producing discs makes it's way to the store too.

NutsAboutPS3  » Apr 03, 2008
This surely only works for single layer discs, though? I mean, you can't have an opaque top layer for a BD-50? Can you?!

dadkins  » Apr 03, 2008
"cheaper to produce" is what caught my eye. Make with the inexpensive blanks already!

savage1984  » Apr 03, 2008
I wonder if this will actually affect the consumer or just mean that the studios reap all the benefits...

poloboyclh  » Apr 03, 2008
NutsAboutPS3- I believe that BDs are similar to DVD9 when having multiple layers, meaning there's a layer 0 and a layer 1. They're pretty much stamped on top of one another so the process of reading the data wouldn't change for a single layer BD compared to a dual layer.

TechJunkie  » Apr 03, 2008
The layers sit atop this material. The only thing the laser is reading "through" is the hardcoat.

bluflu  » Apr 03, 2008
Keep on innovating, Blu-ray. Don’t let the naysayers hold you back.

MacDaddyOJack  » Apr 03, 2008
Maybe this will help prevent cracking when Netflix sends them in the mail too!

KretzJ  » Apr 03, 2008
I really wouldn't consider this an innovation, but rather a maturing of the process. A three-layer BD disc (or 4?) would be more along the lines of innovation. All good news, however... a process that matures means reduced costs and that can do nothing but help.

EvolutionCherry  » Apr 03, 2008
Way to innovate.

King03  » Apr 03, 2008
Perhaps the fact that they do not absorb water will mean they last longer...

Grubert  » Apr 03, 2008
Hey, Noryl is made by General Electrics (owners of Universal Studios). Can you say 'synergies'? http://www.geplastics.com/gep/Plastics/en/ProductsAndServices/ProductLine/noryl.html

jkcheng122  » Apr 03, 2008
only matters if the savings isn't given to the end users like HD DVD did. all the fuss about their product being easier/cheaper to produce and the prices were same as blu-ray and higher on combo discs.

Rainman208  » Apr 03, 2008
Keep those innovations coming. Can only mean good things for the future.

tricky  » Apr 03, 2008
Yea for Blu! Watch out DVD.

tru blu  » Apr 03, 2008
Hope this works out. Anything to help bring costs down is a good thing. And they could make the disc color Blue !!

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