First Hybrid Blu-ray Planned for Release

Japanese optical disc manufacturer Infinity has announced the first Blu-ray release which makes use of a hybrid Blu-ray/DVD release. Due to hit store shelves on February 18th, 'Code Blue' will feature four hybrid discs, which feature a single Blu-ray layer (25GB) and two DVD layers (9GB) on the same side of the disc.

The disc has been approved by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), but has not been certified by the DVD Forum due to compatibility issues with some DVD players. The company tested the disc on 64 different players - including PC drives as well as standalone DVD and Blu-ray Disc players - and saw 100% compatibility, so the issue seems to be rare.

Infinity has also developed a 50GB version which they are now in the process of getting certified by the BDA. It will be interesting to see if the technology gets adopted for any major Hollywood releases in the future.