Mitsubishi today announced that it will release later next month recordable dual-layer, 30GB dual-layer HD DVD media, just after Toshiba hits the market with the world's first consumer PVR to support HD DVD-R.

The company's representatives said that the single-sided HD DVD-R DL can store up to 150 minutes of HD content encoded at a 24Mbps playback rate. Moreover, it seems that the special high-sensitivity dye permits an enhanced recording process which can be applied on both the near-side and inner storage layers.

On the other hand, Sony Electronics announced last month that it had begun to ship its single-layer blank Blu-ray optical media and that it would start delivering dual-layer discs at the beginning of June.

Sony is already shipping 25-GB BD media, which can be purchased at $25 for each disc. The 50-GB versions of the media (BD-R and BD-RE) are dual-layer discs that are on sale for $48 and $60, similar to pricing on TDK's or Panasonic's BD media.

Furthermore, regarding the war between the two formats, FoxNews informed earlier this month that the analysts estimate "that many consumers will remain sidelined until there is a clearer picture of which standard, Blu-ray or HD DVD, will prevail." Remember that we are talking about a $24 billion home video market.

"The average person probably doesn't even care," said Kaufhold. "The fourth quarter of 2006 is when the clock really starts on these items. The first big real push will be the holiday season of 2007, but then you still have the rival format issue clouding things," he said.