Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 8, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Japanese electronics manufacturer Pioneer has unveiled the world’s first optical disc with 16 layers and a total capacity of 400 gigabytes (GB). Each layer holds the same amount of data as a conventional Blu-ray Disc. Thanks to strong technological similarities, compatibility between the new high-capacity disc and conventional Blu-ray Discs can be ensured. Pioneer initially demonstrated a ROM disc, but recordable media would also be possible. The company has not yet commented on any plans for a market launch.
Compared with dual-layer Blu-ray Discs, currently the highest-capacity optical storage media at 50 GB, Pioneer’s disc increases the possible data volume eightfold. According to the company, the problem of severe interference between adjacent layers when so many layers are used was resolved in part through a suitable disc structure. Other technologies developed for DVDs were also employed to address the significant transmission losses caused by the high number of layers.
Reliable playback can be achieved in part with a receiving element that maintains a high signal-to-noise ratio even with weak signals. The optical specifications for the reader’s objective lens are the same as for Blu-ray Discs, so compatibility between the new high-capacity discs and existing media can be ensured. In practice, this could mean that Pioneer’s discs can be read by Blu-ray players requiring, at most, slight modifications.
The company initially provided no information about whether or when the technology would be commercialized. This could be due to uncertainty about its field of application. “The development of a Blu-ray-compatible 400 GB optical disc will not initially affect Blu-ray’s consumer potential in the home-entertainment market,” Richard Cooper, an analyst at Screen Digest, told pressetext. Such high capacity is simply not currently required there. “The 400 GB disc could, however, find applications as a data-storage medium,” the analyst said. Capacity is not the only relevant consideration when choosing between optical media, hard drives and solid-state discs.
Pioneer’s future plans for the development may become clear next week. Details of the research into 400 GB discs are due to be presented at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008, which begins in Hawaii on July 13.
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