Ricoh to make next-gen recordable DVDs in both formats

Ricoh, a company better known for copiers and printers, has entered the next-generation DVD battle—on both sides.

The company has come out with recordable DVDs for both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. The Blu-ray format DVDs are called BD-Rs. The HD DVD format DVDs are called HD DVD-Rs.

Mirroring the storage capabilities of the differing formats, a BD-R disc can store up to 25GB of information and a HD DVD-R disc can store up to 15GB of information.

As of now, the discs are available only as pre-production samples. The goal, according to the manufacturer, is to have both formats available by the end of the year (by which time the industrywide spat might be resolved).