The first is less geared at the consumer market. Intra-Hybrid Blu-ray Discs (IH-BD) are quite unique in that they feature one 25GB read-only layer like a traditional Blu-ray, and a 25GB write layer, which you can put custom information on.
The second spec, BDXL, is a bit more exciting. The BDA says that these discs will be coming in 100GB and 128GB sizes, though they’ll initially be aimed at those with a need for archiving large amounts of data like hospitals and broadcasters. According to the press release, “A consumer version of BDXL is also expected, particularly in those regions where BD recorders have achieved broad consumer acceptance.”
With every exciting advancement comes a bit of a problem though. BDXL discs could be very cool for storing entire seasons of television, or movie trilogies all on one disc, but they won’t work with our current players. Unfortunately, not even a firmware update will work, so if you want them, you’d have to get a compatible BD player. There’s no word yet on when we’ll see hardware to match the new spec.
Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.
