Hybrid DVD/Blu-ray disc released in Japan

by Andrew Yoon { Dec 22nd 2008 at 9:15AM }

Don't you wish your favorite Blu-ray movie could work at grandma's place? But drats, for some reason she just doesn't have a Blu-ray player. Thankfully, you own a hybrid DVD/Blu-ray disc, so you'll be able to watch your Blu-ray movie on a standard DVD player. It won't be in HD, but SD movie better than no movie, right?

This tech isn't far off. In fact, it's available now. Infinity Storage Media has released the first hybrid disc, which allows just that. By using a clever dual-layer process, DVD drives will be able to read a DVD layer, while Blu-ray drives will be able to read a Blu-ray layer. The image above shows the process in a rather simple way.

We're not sure how far this technology will reach, or if it will be adopted by other companies. For now, this is a strictly Japan-only product. We can see tons of studios capitalizing on the HD transition by releasing their movies on a hybrid disc like this.

[Via digg]

Tags: blu-ray, breaking, dvd, hybrid

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Archon @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:22AM

That's a perfect future move for phasing out standard DVDs. Releasing hybrids would unify releases and sort out the 'what's blu-ray' confusion.

It plays on your DVD player, grandma, that's what counts!

Archon @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:30AM

Oh, and also:
PS3/XBox/Wii Hybrid Discs?!?!?!?!?WQ!@#!@#EQDASK!

Game_playa @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:22PM

You lost me at Xbox

Mazrael @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:25PM

the Wii can't play DVDs, Grans' love the Wii from what I've heard
& why would your gran have a PS3/360? although Gaming Grans would be cool, wouldn't she be troubled by all the buttons?
hybrid discs would be pointless to me, I don't use my console for watching films.. 99% of the time it's for gaming

Archon @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:42PM

Ok. Let's clear this up.
First: I meant a PS3/XBox/Wii hybrid game disc. As a joke. You know... So that you can store the game for all three consoles on one disc... Duh, just forget I said that. It's not that epic.
Secondly: You can make Your Wii play DVDs if you've got the know-how.
Lastly: Grannies & Blu-Ray. I mentioned 'costumer confusion'. Never said anything about your grandma or any other grandma owning a PS3. What I did mention is a unified system. If shops started selling hybrids instead of separate BR/DVD releases, your granny wouldn't have to worry about which one to choose. She probably wouldn't know what a Blu-Ray disc is and would probably be pissed off if she bought one by mistake. Also, that's a very future-proof idea. Buy your hybrid, watch it on your DVD player and enjoy. Couple years later, upgrade to a HDTV and a Blu-Ray player and rewatch them again in full, glorious Hi-Def! I think that's brilliant. The biggest problem with DVDs was the whole 'so I have to rebuy all my movies now, amirite?' thing. If you're planning to go hi-def sometime in the future, your only option is to buy a DVD now and BR later or not buy the DVD at all and wait for your BR config. A Hybrid would let you watch it in SD and then again in HD, without rebuying the movie. That's a very cool thing indeed.

Mazrael @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:30PM

well ok, you got a vote up out of me..

I know of how to make my Wii play DVD's but then why would I want to, even through component it looks a little nasty.. I'm the only one with HD so far in this house, and then it's only for gaming.. any new films I'd usually be borrowing off them, when the time comes, I'll be choosy about which films I really want to own again, there isn't many I'd watch more than twice..

Although, yes, it is a really good idea, hopefully without degrading any quality to the films, but I am happy with SD for films, for one my favourite films were done in SD.. I am a gamer first, it can take me 2 months to watch a new film - so on that hand, I could just buy the hybrid "for later"

Archon @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:36PM

Yeah, I've got plenty DVDs too and got nothing against them. I just think it would be great if in the future we could get single Blu-Ray releases that could be played on standard def players as well for those who are not HD yet. I think that's a great feature.

Erik Stroud @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:14PM

This could help me. I will be the only one in my house with an HDTV soon, so having a way that everyone can use them is nice. Also, I am an anime watcher first, gamer second. But neither really interfere with each other since I can balance them quite well.

Nick @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:33PM

@Mazrael

You're in the minority. Until I realized my 360 was a jackhammering time bomb, I used it for watching HD DVDs and uh, other "media" regularly.

Now that I have my ps3, come Xmas, it's going to be my everything media player. BluRay, "other" media, etc.

Yes, it's a gaming system - but it's a great all-around system. KNowing that I can install my games and use the discs as placemarkers only makes me very, very happy. It saves my drives for watching BluRays.

And there have been times where I wish I could lend a movie to a friend, but I can't because they don't have an HD setup or, in the case of my HD DVD movies, an HD DVD player.

So a hybrid? Yes, please. Makes combo discs look stupid, to have it all on one? I'd pay extra, for sure.

Mooex @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:31AM

this is a bad idea, its bad for business. i just bought another ps3 to watch blu-rays in the living room. if the blu-rays i had now was a Hybrid DVD/Blu-ray disc, i would have never bought it. and i didnt buy it for me its so my parents can watch the lastest movies ive bought. if it was a Hybrid DVD/Blu-ray disc i wouldnt care, watch it in Standred def

gblackwo @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:09AM

Let me get this straight, even if they eventually cost the same, you would rather have a disc that only played in certain hardware that not everyone has embraced, versus playing almost anywhere? That's like preferring to buy a car that can only travel on ice, even though you could have had a car for the same price that could travel on dry roads too!

Vcize @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:59AM

If you think they're going to cost the same you're kidding yourself.

What we'll get is crappier quality out of the Blu-ray part of the disc, at a higher cost.

Jerses @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:51PM

What if you want to watch a movie in your girlfriends house or someones house that doesnt have Bluray? also you cant complain at something thats 2 things at once. Its like when they released a DVD and it included an ipod version so you cant take it on the go.

gregory mitchell @ Dec 26th 2008 7:58PM

why would you do that when Bd players are sub $200 now.....

Vcize @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:59AM

Oh god no. The freaking combo discs are one of the things I hated most about HD DVD. Do not want.

Philip @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:47AM

Its single side reading, the red laser reads past the blue ray part of the disk, no need to flip and you still get the fancy art...anotherwards, hd-dvd has been 1-up ed again.

Chris Are @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:53PM

IN OTHER WORDS. Not "Another words."

DjDATZ @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:11AM

Awesome...then I'd actually consider buying movies... cuz I want HD movies, and I want them in Blu-Ray for the future, but I don't want to buy two movies...

bambino @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:28AM

Here we go again..

sn1per @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:32AM

This would be a great idea, if the discs cost the same as a regular bluray, and if the bluray was a BD50. Unfortunately, these discs will undoubtedly cost 1.5x what a plain bluray costs, and will only contain a single layer of bluray data (BD25), resulting in either lower video quality, less special features, or both. This is why the HDDVD/DVD combo discs were hated by nearly all HDDVD supporters.

Vcize @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:46AM

At least somebody gets it, as opposed to all the bafoons in here clamoring about how great of an idea this is, who will probably be the first people lined up with pitch forks if and when these are actually released because they now have to pay more money for a worse quality product (at least as far as the blu-ray half goes).

Vcize @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:47AM

And yes, I intentionally misspelled that word to get around the word filter. So sue me.

ck @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:48PM

There's a word filter for "buffoon"? Wow.

I guess you wouldn't want to get anyone's feelings hurt over seeing such a harsh word on the internet.

I'll test it with a few of my own: Gosh, tally-ho, ankle, gentleman's club.

Vcize @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:27PM

There's a word-filter for dang (had to dodge another one there) near everything on this site, which is odd because it's sister sites (joystiq, X3F, engadget) are MUCH more lenient.

I've had too many several paragraph posts disappear into oblivion because they contained some variation that could be mildly construed as a harsh word to risk it on this site nowadays. Odd that we're treated like 12 year olds with regards to language, since the PS3 is supposed to be the older gamer's console.

Andrew Yoon @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:34PM

The filter is strict, but we will approve comments. Just wait a few minutes.

The filter came up during the site's infancy, when there was a LOT more console flame stuff going on. It's a bit better now, esp. because we're a bit easier on laying down the banhammer.

Ghost inthe Shell @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:57AM

this is a really bad idea . hey lets make the choice easyer for you guys sure you could buy our blue ray players but well just make these dvds insted that will just play any were.

yah it sounds like a good idea on paper but if you look at it down the road sony for instance cant boast about how there games are on these massive blue ray disks when microsoft now all of a sudden says hey you dont need that not only does our new system have blue ray capabilites but now you dont have to worry about having more then one blue ray player are games and movies play one every thing.

so yah sounds good but if these things are more and more looked into theres a good chance sonys going to get #@%!ed buy them

Dreadhead541 @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:27AM

You're misunderstanding this. This just means that you'll be able to watch blu-ray movies on a regular dvd player it'll be in SD, but you'll still be able to watch it. You'll only be able to watch it in HD if you go a play it on a blu-ray player.

monkeyhousetim @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:34AM

Brilliant idea. This should have been in the specs from day one.

TJF588 @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:42AM

*looks at FFVIIAC COMPLETE*

Alphathon @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:22AM

I thnk this is both good and very bad! The main reason that DVD is still beating Blu-ray is because it's so cheap to get hold of movies on it, so with this (probably) even more expensive option, I doubt it's going to do much for Blu-ray adoption. On the flip-side though it might meen people who already own a blu-ray player are more likelly to get it on Blu-ray. I only hope the technology is flexable enough and not too cost prohibitive to have both Blu-ray DL and DVD DL on the same disk. Its certainly possible, I meen look at that rediculous prototype that was posted here a few weeks ago. Would probably be stupidly expensive to produce though.

Copland @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:30AM

I think this is not good. I don't know how thick the Blu-Ray only discs are, but looking at this disc, theres only 0.1mm of thickness before it reaches the layer which has the data on it.
Which means a little scratch would ruin the first layer.
DVDs weren't this weak. I wonder how Blu-Rays and this new discs are...

Jerses @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:01PM

Then you dont know about bluray at all.

The bluray have a antiscratch surface. Plus layers arent that of a problem, the 400gb disc will have 16 layers for example.

Copland @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:30PM

Thanks Jerses.
I've heard that Blu-Rays are vulnerable to scratches.
But looks like the source was wrong. Thanks for the input.

Taz69 @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:37AM

Sounds expensive to me.

It looks like these will be single layer blu-ray so those with Blu-ray players will want a proper BD50 version and those with DVD players won't want to spend more than usual for films.

It won't just be the cost to produce the media but also the licensing costs because the BDA and Toshiba are competing formats and will each want their licensing fees.

Brian @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:36AM

sounds interesting a disc that work in dvd and blu-ray players, if they can make it without any lose on either side then it sound good. retailer would love to have one disc type to stock, making more space for more movies, people dont have to worry about have to buy the same movie twice.lets see how it turns out, sounds interesting!

Topsu @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:51AM

Why do you think my grandma doesn't have a BD-player :D ?

connor @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:17PM

buffoon

connor @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:25PM

"Vcize said...
And yes, I intentionally misspelled that word to get around the word filter. So sue me."

Lol, I will... You *snigger* baffoon *snigger*

mininova @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:22PM

"Vcize said...
And yes, I intentionally misspelled that word to get around the word filter. So sue me."

Lol, get over yourself, there is no filter for buffoon.

Vcize @ Dec 22nd 2008 2:31PM

As I said back on the first page underneath my post (you know, the place where people that can figure out what the word "reply" means post their replies), I've had far too many long posts on this side of the site disappear due to PS3F's ridiculously sensitive word filter to take a chance with any word that could even possibly make it on there.

Gambit07 @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:10PM

What's the MPG on this baby?

Bad... @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:23PM

Bad, bad, bad.. This means Microsoft could release games in Hybrid DVDs which would still be playable on the 360. Meaning the BD-argument for the PS3 is almost going to waste.

Come on sony, this is BS.

Invisible Robot Meat @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:07PM

huh?

Rodney @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:28PM

I think this is a great idea - I have blu-ray in my house and dvd in my car - i think this will help also where blu-ray isn't yet available. i'd pay a premium for these combo disks. nobody here is a software engineer - so STFU with your complaints!

kentuckyfried @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:31PM

woops.

I guess this means I'm going to regret buying all those blu-rays I already picked up... -_-

Trek1701a @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:53PM

How about instead of making this type of tech they take the DVD of the digital copy (since most BD titles ship with a DVD in them anyway) and include the movie in its DVD form, so you can watch it on a DVD player if you need to. The DVD movie wouldn't be a selling point. I personally think this is the wrong idea now. It might have been a decent idea at the beginning, to get people used to the idea of Blu-Ray, but now it's like either you know about it or you don't combo discs aren't going to make much of a difference. Blu-Ray is starting to make inroads into DVD territory and this sort of seems like going backwards.

c4v3man @ Dec 22nd 2008 3:30PM

Yes, the studios want to save you money by getting you to buy a single copy of the movie instead of two separate copies... dance you puppets, DANCE!

bknight @ Dec 22nd 2008 7:45PM

Its a good concept, but what is holding Blu Ray movies back is the cost, currently lot of Blu Ray movies are running at double the price of its DVD equvilant.

Instead of doing this they should be working on making Blue Ray movies cheaper to produce becuase at the moment the PS3 is the reason why Blue Ray actually sales at all.