All- in- One DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Disc

[Zeus_Hunt]

In December 2005, three optical disc engineers now identified as working for Warner Bros. began work on a U.S. patent application for a three-layer optical disc, which would be capable of being adapted to any of 22 different configurations. One enables a hybrid DVD / HD DVD or DVD / Blu-ray configuration, and another would allow for a hybrid HD DVD / Blu-ray disc.

The patent application, dated August 10, 2006, may have used the strongest language put forth by a representative of a major studio against the notion that either format would ever win the high-definition format war.

This ingenious optical medium is dubbed “multilayer dual optical disc” and has three separate layers: one for standard CD-DVD formats, a second one for Blu-ray content and a third one for HD-DVD information. This means that consumers will be able to choose the appropriate hardware without spending too much on single-format oriented devices that may not be widely accepted. This way, film producing companies won't be forced to favor one format over the other, delivering movies in all three formats on a single disc.

The three engineers are Wayne Smith, Alan Bell and Lewis Ostrover, who have already filed the patent application for the new optical medium. The ingenious disc can be recorded at different micro-depths according to each format. Blu-ray stores information at only 0.1 mm from the surface, while HD-DVD discs store it at about 0.6 mm.

The inventors claim that the future optical readers will incorporate film lasers that can read the top layer and can “see through” to the lower layers. And this is available for one side of the disc. Additional content could also be recorded on the other side of the disc.

While the application was recently discovered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database, it has not yet been granted, and may not be granted for some time even if it's put on "fast-track" status. The biggest hurdle facing Warner engineers now may be from Toshiba, which appears to be ready to actually produce a three-layer hybrid disc in a joint venture with Memory-Tech, but only for HD DVD and standard DVD content.

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