Catching up with the upcoming 8X DVD writers by Philips/Benq, Optorite (Sanyo), Plextor and others, Ricoh announced a new series of 8X DVD+R media, available in the market in the 4th quarter of 2003. Although the company has not revealed its plans for a Ricoh 8X capable burner, it is obvious that jumping up to 8X from the current 4X does not comprise any major surprise, since most of the basic 4X hardware kits used are currently capable of 8X burning, with appropriate modifications.

The organic layer of the new media will allow writing a wide range of writing speeds, up to 8X. In addition, compatibility issues and low error rates are considered as the main requirements for the new media, especially when recorded at 8X.