H+H software has announced what it claims to be the world's first virtual recorder that handles every optical media format, including Blu-ray and HD DVD as well as less common disc formats such as hybrid DVD and DVD-RAM. Like its Virtual CD suite, this software, Phantom Drive, is designed to work with any application capable of burning discs.
Just as quick as one can grab a blank disc from a spindle, Phantom drive can create and mount a virtual blank and it appears just like a physical drive with the selected blank media loaded to any software capable of burning discs. However, unlike a physical drive, the write process is significantly quicker, running as quick as it can accept data and write it to the hard disk. By not using physical media means that one can create test burns without the time and cost involved for each write process, especially when it comes to expensive and time-consuming Blu-ray and double-layer media. Once the person is satisfied with their virtual test copy, only then do they need to duplicate this to physical media to try in a physical drive.
For those who do not yet have a Blu-ray writer, but would like to try one before they decide whether it is worth getting one, the Phantom Drive suite seems to be a nice way to do this, since any virtual Blu-ray media it creates will appear like a physical disc to any Blu-ray playback software. If the person spends some time learning to build Blu-ray discs and is still interested, Blu-ray writers may have come down enough for the person to recoup the cost of the Virtual Drive software, not to mention all the test discs that would have involved physical media otherwise.
Finally those who create video disc content on the move will find it useful to be able to create test discs as well as try them out without the need to carry any blank discs. Instead, they can build a collection of these such as on a portable 2.5" HDD (half the physical size of a DVD jewel case) and burn the lot to physical discs once they return to a desktop PC. Again, for Blu-ray content editors, this also saves carrying expensive Blu-ray media on the move, as we llas not requiring a Blu-ray drive in the laptop.
Phantom Drive is expected to be launched mid June, 2008 and will be priced at €14.95, not far off the price of a blank Blu-ray disc. For those interested in seeing what the current Virtual CD suite is like to use, we have a carried out a review of this recently, which can be viewed here. A demo version of Phantom Drive can be obtained here.
