Ricoh Press Release

8x write speed according to the High Speed Standard; Excellent compatibility through optimised manufacturing process; 8.5 gigabyte – ideal for movie and data archiving.

With the DVD+R 8x DL, Ricoh, an innovative manufacturer of optical storage media, again presents a DVD blank medium which due to its high performance and extensive capacity, offers users numerous benefits when archiving valuable data. With its enormous storage capacity of 8.5 gigabyte combined with the extremely fast 8x write speed, the Ricoh DVD+R 8x DL can be recommended as the perfect medium for movie fans and collectors. Thus the new generation of Ricoh DVD+R 8x Double Layer discs allows extensive data protection, hard disc backups and uninterrupted movie archiving of amounts of data up to 8.5 gigabyte in only about 16 minutes. In comparison: a DVD+R 2.4x DL requires about 44 minutes to store the same amount of data.

Key features of the new Ricoh DVD+R 8x DL:

Highest write speed according to the 8x High Speed Standard.
Ricoh has developed a fully new, highly sensitive surface coating for the DVD+R 8x DL in order to achieve highest recording quality and absolute security during the high speed writing process. In doing so particular attention was given to the precise co-ordination of each individual write level (Layer 0 and Layer 1). Besides extremely short recording times, advantages for the user include perfect data quality and exceptional durability.

Highest compatibility with DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.
Thanks to a special feature of Ricoh technology, not only the material but also the intensity of the recording, reflective and bonding layers was optimised. The objective of these extensive fine tuning measures was to achieve highest compatibility both with double layer compatible DVD+R DL drives on the one hand and existing DVD Players and DVD-ROM drives on the other.

Highest storage capacity for large volumes of data.
The enormous 8.5 gigabyte capacity of the DVD+R 8x DL is 1.8x greater than the capacity of single layer DVDs. Thus users have the opportunity to archive up to four hours of uninterrupted excess-length movies in DVD quality. However the new Ricoh Double Layer DVD is not just the perfect storage medium for movie fans. The DVD+R 8x DL is a fast and absolutely reliable solution for storing large amounts of data such as the archiving of highest-resolution digital photos or extensive hard disc backups. Using the Inverted Stack production process for double layer media that has been developed and optimised by Ricoh, the DVD+R 8x DL is characterized by its favourable cost effectiveness.

The Ricoh High Speed DVD+R 8x DL in a jewel case is expected to be available at the end of October 2005.