Cheaper Blu-ray blank disks arriving

But 25 GB disks for Blu-ray burners cost as much as $16 apiece a year ago. Recently, however, two developments have been turning those high prices into relative bargains.

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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Cheaper Blu-ray blank disks arriving

May 23, 2010

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2009, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2009, The Post-Standard

   Movie fans who like to make their own Blu-ray video disks have had to put up with distressingly high blank-disk prices ever since Blu-ray was introduced seven years ago. Likewise, many computer users who like the extra data storage capacity have shied away from Blu-ray because the blank disks cost so much.
   Those days are finally coming to an end. Prices of blank Blu-ray disks are dropping, and a new method of making them promises to bring down prices even more.
   Blu-ray disks have an incredible capacity -- 25 gigabytes (GB), more than 8 times the storage of DVDs. And that's for the smallest-capacity BR disks. Higher-capacity disks, using dual-layer technology, can store 50 GB. This is great for their original role for playback of high-definition movies, but the immense capacity of BR disks makes them ideal for data backup. A couple of BR disks could back up most photo collections, for example.
   But 25 GB disks for Blu-ray burners cost as much as $16 apiece a year ago. Recently, however, two developments have been turning those high prices into relative bargains.
   The first change comes from increased supply of standard BR disks. With more factories joining production, mostly in Asia, manufacturers have started real price competition. It's not a price war, at least not yet. But prices of regular BR disks, sold by reputable manufacturers such as Verbatim (made by Mitsubishi), have dropped to as little as $3.19 when you buy 10. (This is based on Amazon.com's standard price.)
   The second change is exciting. Blu-ray researchers have found a way to make blank BR disks on the same production lines that make blank DVDs. These blanks, called LTH disks, are already much cheaper than regular BR disks, and will no doubt continue to drop in price in the next year or two. Blank LTH disks, also based on Amazon prices, are selling for as little as $1.87 in bulk.
   The LTH blanks I've been using all come from Verbatim, which I've come to trust for error-free blank disks in all three types (CDs, DVDs and BRs). I've bought 20-pack spindles (also called "hat boxes") of LTH disks for as little as $1.60 each, during a sale at Amazon.
   Oddly, Verbatim seems to be the only Blu-ray disk manufacturer selling LTH versions in North America at this time.
   If you have a Blu-ray burner that's more than a year old, you'll probably have to update its firmware before it can recognize LTH disks. My LG burner, model GGW-H20L, updated itself from a file I downloaded from the LG website. Check your burner maker's site for an update before buying LTH disks. (I had to connect the burner to my Acer Windows netbook for the update, even though I use it mainly on my MacBook Pro. The updater runs only on a physical Windows PC.)

   Next week: Software that takes advantage of the new LTH disks, for Windows and Macs.