Verbatim To Launch World's First Mini Blu-ray Discs

Verbatim Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Kagaku Media, has announced what the company claims is the world's first mini Blu-ray recordable and rewriteable (BD-R/RE) media aimed at the camcorder market.

According to Verbatim, measuring three inches (8cm) in diameter, the new 7.5GB discs provide approximately one hour of continuous video capture time on a single side when high definition (1920 x 1080i) is used, and approximately two hours of video capture time with images recorded at 1440 x 1080i.

Verbatim Mini BD media will be available in August in Japan, where the new Hitachi BD-compatible camcorder will be launched. Verbatim will begin shipments to other parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand, when the new BD-compatible camcorders become available locally.