As HD DVD camp is trying to boost capacity of its discs, the Blu-ray camp is working to make them more affordable and reliable. Pioneer and Mitsubishi Kagaku Media have reportedly announced new so-called LTH type Blu-ray media which is considerably less expensive to manufacture, but is incompatible with existing players and drives.

The new Blu-ray recordable discs use organic dye recording layer, which reduces manufacturing and material costs significantly from the current levels and inorganic dye recording layer. In order to create such discs a special technology, which Pioneer and Mitsubishi Kagaku Media call “Lot to High” (LTH), should be used. Unfortunately, such discs are only compatible with Blu-ray Disc Recordable format version 1.2, which is not currently supported by massively available devices.

Dual-layer HD DVDs already use organic dye recording layers and have been enjoying lower production costs for over a year now.

The Pioneer and Mitsubishi Kagaku Media aim to launch the new Blu-ray disc media onto the market at the end of 2007 or in the spring of 2008, as soon as players and drives that support the new discs emerge on the market.