Matsushita Electric Industrial announced that its Format Verification Laboratory has started offering verification service for Blu-ray Disc blank rewritable media and recorders today. Anticipating a wave of entries of Blu-ray Disc-based products in the coming months, Panasonic has established a laboratory in Osaka to facilitate companies adopting the format and entering the market.

The Blu-ray Disc Founders, which will be re-incorporated into the Blu-ray Disc Association later this year, developed a format to enable rewriting, recording and playback of high-definition TV (HDTV) and other digital content by using a Blue Laser. The Founders published the basic specifications, Specification Ver.1.0, on May 20, 2002. The laboratory verifies conformity with the specification, covering single layer discs (23.3 gigabytes or 25.0 gigabytes), dual layer discs (50.0 gigabytes) and the recorders which record and playback these discs.

For manufacturers, the verification service will ensure consistency with the format, expediting commercialization of Blu-ray Disc-based products. The Blu-ray Disc logo will serve as the proof of compliance to give assurance to consumers. By establishing the laboratory, Panasonic, one of the nine original members of the industry consortium, aims to contribute to further developing and popularizing the new standard in the industry and the market.