That Blu-rayin' is Hard, Sez Microsoft

July 18th, 2006, 19:37 Posted By: wraggster

Now we hear from our beloved basement-dwelling brothers at Kotaku that Microsoft spokespeople are saying that Blu-ray discs are apparently "hard to make." There's an extra layer of copy protection on Blu-ray discs, called BD+, and that makes the manufacturing of those disks a whole lot more complicated.

In a recent podcast, a couple of Microsofties decried the difficulty of manufacturing Blu-ray discs, saying that the recording surface of the discs is very close to the top layer, and because it's protected by just a thin coating it requires a much more precise duplication process. On the other hand, HD DVD manufacturing is more akin to garden-variety DVDs, where its data is protected between two layers of protective plastic.

Keep in mind, though, that those two Microsoft podcasters have a vested interest in HD DVD, which is the format of choice for the company's Xbox 360. Even so, the ease of manufacturing HD DVDs, plus the simplicity of converting an existing DVD plant to HD DVD also translates into lower-cost duplication facilities. This can't be good for Blu-ray.

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