New Medium Enterprises has secured worldwide patents surrounding its high-capacity Versatile Multilayer Disc (VMD) technology.

VMD technology provides up to eight information layers on each side of a disc and can be utilized for both blue laser and red laser formats. VMD is applicable for single- and double-sided discs and a multiplicity of formats, including Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

The NME patents, outlining the basic principles and method of cost-effective mass manufacturing of multilayer discs, were filed initially in 2004. The patents cover the principles of NME's modified 2P process, which involves producing more than two layers on a single-sided disc, and will allow for the first time the replication of multilayer discs with the production yield and subsequent production costs comparable to current DVD production. The patent also covers the general set-up of a VMD production line and method of playing-back multilayer discs.

VMD technology has been validated by established Netherlands-based replicator VDL ODMS, and NME has entered into a production agreement with the replicator to produce the mass production machinery based on standard DVD equipment augmented by VMD 2P technology. The full VMD production line will be unveiled later this year.