Blank optical disc manufacturers are rolling out the first generation of recordable and rewriteable Blu-ray Disc (BD) media in the United States, despite a lack of actual hardware on the market, giving the format an early step up on its rival technology, HD DVD.

Anticipating the gradual arrival of a pipeline of high-definition recorder decks, camcorders and PCs with writeable BD drives, a few companies have begun shipping product, with others planning similar rollouts in the coming months.

TDKwas first to market last month when it began shipping single-layer recordable 25GB BD-R and rewriteable BD-RE blank discs, setting the retail pricing bar at $19.99 for BD–R and $24.99 for BD–RE. The discs are bare, cartridge-free media.

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