Just what is the point of Dual-Layer DVD+RW?

THERE'S A scene in one of the Austin Power's movies where Will Ferrell, playing an Arab, is bombed etc. but refuses to die. Just when you think he's gone, there's this little, tiny disembodied voice saying "Hello, hello, I'm in an incredible amount of pain" - or something like that.

It's hilarious. But not half as absurdly amusing as the DVD+RW Alliance announcing the first version of its specification for dual-layer (DL) DVD+RW discs. Puberty was shorter than the wait for this. Finally, a couple of days ago, the Alliance released of the version 1.0 spec for 2.4x rewriting on Double Layer DVD+RW media - or DVD+RW DL, as it will be known. Companies involved in this momentous announcement were HP, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media/Verbatim, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, Thomson and Yamaha. That's right, blistering 2.4x - bet you're excited now, eh?.

So now, along with dual-layer DVD-R and DVD+R discs we get a rewriteable 8.5GB disc just months before the advent of much larger, blank Blu-Ray and HD DVD blank discs. Is anyone else here beginning to see how pointless this is?

JVC has already announced that it plans to launch a 2x DVD-RW DL 8.5GB disc this quarter too. I'm sorry, but this is just too little, too late. Where were those discs when I was pirating - er, I mean backing up - my previously purchased and legitimate copies of favourite DVD movies and TV shows? Where were they when I needed a reusable version of the vastly overpriced dual-layer DVD-R discs for backing up my PC files? Both of these announcements are Will Ferrell in the hole or the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Badly injured, bleeding out and with little chance of survival but still crying out "Come back here, I'll get you. Coward!!".

The time for re-writeable DVD+/-RW discs was at least a year ago when the shadow of future disc-based storage didn't loom so large. Announcing the readiness - not launch - of such media just as the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD war machines grind into action seems a bit sad really. Do the expressions "that train has left the station" and "that window of opportunity is not just closed but nailed shut" not ring a bell with these players? This is like U2 releasing their next album on cassette-only or Hollywood deciding to bring back VHS. To be fair, let's look at it from their angle. They see this an opportunity to make a little cash before HD DVD and Blu-Ray find their feet. After all, they are two competing formats and the confusion in the marketplace might convince users to stick with what they know.

Nothing wrong with capitalising on customer confusion since, between high-def telly and high density disc formats, most normal folk are going to be spending a lot of time scratching their heads. Also, the Alliance will argue that the newer disc formats from the Sony and Toshiba camps will require new drives. Sadly, what they won't be shouting about too loudly is the fact that their new DVD+RW DL discs will require many users to get new drives too. Due to certain "characteristics" of the new discs - something to do with low reflectivity compared to regular DVD+RW discs - many current DVD burners and players will not support the new media. How convenient is that?

Apart from investing in a technology that is fast going to be superseded by something much better, there's the cost. No one - not the Alliance or JVC - has indicated any kind of pricing for the forthcoming dual layer DVD+/- RW discs - warning. One of the key reasons why dual-layer DVD+/-R discs have failed has been the price. The average price of five branded DVD-+/-R DL discs is around £14-15 for just over 42GB of storage. Now, 50 branded single layer DVD+/-R discs offering 235GB of storage will set you back about £13. Do the math. Rewriteable dual layer DVD+/-RW discs are going to be significantly more expensive than their DVD+/-R cousins. At their best you will be looking at about £5 each but that's very optimistic. More realistically, maybe £7-8 each.

TDK has been the first to announce blank discs for the Blu-ray format, with single-layer and dual-layer discs ranging in price from around $20-$60 - about £13-£35 - for 25GB-50GB blank. That's before price competition and it's still a much better deal than DVD+RW DL.

I could go on, and I haven't even mentioned far cheaper removable hard disk drives, but I won't. The point is, don't be fooled by the arrival of an outdated and overpriced technology posing as something new and relevant. µ