Panasonic revealed today that it has modified its existing pilot production line for single-layer Blu-ray discs, called BD-ROMs, so that it is able to replicate dual-layer BD-ROM discs with 50GB of storage capacity.

The pilot production line is housed within the Panasonic Disc Manufacturing Corporation of America in California.

Single-layer Blu-ray discs have 25GB of storage capacity for holding video and other data, while current DVD discs have 8.5GB of storage at most.

The doubling of BD-ROM disc storage capacity is enabled by spin coating technologies developed by Panasonic that create two recorded layers on a single side of a Blu-ray disc.

Panasonic explained that readily available inexpensive UV curable resins are used in the creation of the space layer, cover layer and hard-coat, resulting in a reduction in disc replication costs.

Video and other data is then embedded in the layers for playback later using a blue laser-equipped Blu-ray disc player, recorder or BD-ROM drive-equipped PC.

Panasonic expects to provide sample dual-layer BD-ROM discs to the industry for testing by the end of this month.

"Working closely with the movie studios and our replication partners, Panasonic was able to foresee the need for greater disc capacity to give consumers a much richer experience," said Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, director of strategy and alliances at Panasonic Hollywood Lab.