Panasonic said that it will deliver the first samples of dual-layer (50GB) read-only Blu-Ray discs (BD-ROM) by the end of the month. The discs will be manufactured in the company's facilities in Torrance City, California.

At the same US-based plant, the company reportedly released samples of a single-layer BD-ROM (25GB) disc last April, and currently the line is capable of starting mass production of single layer BD-ROMs. The dual layer BD-ROM product line has been opearating since November.

Panasonic claims that it evaluated a low-cost technology to apply (bond) the protective (cover) layer on the new BD-ROM media, based on the UV resin spin-coating methodology. After sputtering, a UV resin is applied on the spinning disc, and then the disc is exposed to UV radiation.

The applied spin-coating technologies, Panasonic's UV curable resins, the small cycle times for each disc combined with the overall low cost allows Panasonic to expect fast transition to mass production.