New BDXL Discs Increases Blu-ray Capacity

Two new specifications of Blu-ray disc have been announced by the BDA.  The first is BDXL, a disc that will have three or four layers and will be capable of storing up to 128GB of data, while the second is a hybrid disc named IH-BD. 

BDXL is initially not likely to be for consumer use, as it's being promoted as a tool for the commercial sector, especially those who operate a document heavy business.  Write-only discs will come in 100GB and 128GB options, but the read/write disc will only be available in 100GB.  The BDA say the BDXL disc will come out for home use sometime in the future, but only in territories where Blu-ray recording has taken off. 

Anyone wanting to take advantage of a 100GB R/W Blu-ray will probably have to buy a new player though, as the multiple layers will need a stronger laser to penetrate.

The Intra-Hybrid Blu-ray Disc (IH-BD) is different as it doesn't increase capacity, but instead splits its layers into two, a BD-ROM and a BD-RE.  These will remain 50GB in capacity, shared over the two layers.  Again, a new machine is likely to be needed in order to record and playback the IH-BD discs.