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Pioneer develops Blu-ray compatible disc that holds 400GB

7 July 2008 13:31 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 19 comments

On July 13 Pioneer will be giving a presentation at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage where they'll discuss recent advances that apparently make discs with up to 16 layers possible. Although other companies have found ways to radically increase the number of layers on an optical disc, Pioneer seems to be the first company to manage it with as much as 25GB per layer, making it very similar to Blu-ray.

In fact the company has said "it is possible to maintain compatibility between the new 16-layer optical disc and the BD discs." That could potentially mean a single Blu-ray disc capable of storing up to 400GB with the new technology.

Of course that's assuming a number of things, including that manufacturing costs, which are already very high for even single layer Blu-ray discs, come down significantly. The large amount of data per layer for Blu-ray increases the precision required to make them compared to DVD, resulting in a higher percentage of bad (unreadable) discs. It's reasonable to assume that putting 16 such layers on a single disc would lower yields even further.

There's certainly potential for adding just 2 or 3 more layers to accommodate increased resolution in future generations of HD video. At the same time, Blu-ray is limited by more than just storage capacity. It only makes sense that even higher resolutions would also require higher data throughput to accomodate increased bitrates, just as DVD's 9.8Mbps was deemed insufficient for current generation HD video.

So for now it's certainly an interesting development, and perhaps even revolutionary, but don't make any plans to buy 400GB Blu-ray discs any time soon.

Permalink to this article | Topic: Blu-ray

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Vr0cK (Newbie) 7 July 2008 13:37
Its good to hear advancing technology yet companies always come up with stuff like this about disc space and layers etc...yet it never becomes solid. So until they're actually marketing a 400gb blu-ray disc this is irrelevant to the world. [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 7 July 2008 14:17
@ Vr0cK they could keep layering up but as verbal states the more layers the more likely it is to suffer errors. and the cost is like wtf, because there is no competition and no immediate need to change from dvd's as the benefits are not the same as when we moved from vhs to dvd. so hats off to Pioneer but i feel that it has no uses in any marketplace, unless they expect us to keep using the ageing technology of optical media in 5 to 10 years. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7 July 2008 14:19
NexGen76 (Member) 7 July 2008 15:02
*Originally posted by Vr0cK:* Its good to hear advancing technology yet companies always come up with stuff like this about disc space and layers etc...yet it never becomes solid. So until they're actually marketing a 400gb blu-ray disc this is irrelevant to the world. This disc would be more to corp use than consumers right now & probably for a few years.25GB & 50GB Blu-Ray are more than enough for right now. [ + quote]
core2kid (Senior Member) 7 July 2008 15:02
That would make one huge and awesome PS3 game ;) [ + quote]
Jaussi (Member) 7 July 2008 15:17
*Originally posted by core2kid:* That would make one huge and awesome PS3 game ;) Metal Gear Solid Anthology From Metal Gear to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Ultra-HD? =) [ + quote]
core2kid (Senior Member) 7 July 2008 15:21
I'd buy that [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 7 July 2008 15:41
are you 100% sure this is a blu-ray disc vurbal? as far as i can tell pioneer are keeping mum about the format atm, though the compatibility quote from pioneer would suggest that it was blu-ray. but the format is most certainly only ever going to be a ROM drive, which would mean it use was very limited if not pointless, other than for brownie points in the "look what we can do" marketing areas. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7 July 2008 15:45
sciascia (Junior Member) 7 July 2008 16:44
*Originally posted by nobrainer:* but the format is most certainly only ever going to be a ROM drive, which would mean it use was very limited if not pointless, other than for brownie points in the "look what we can do" marketing areas. Probably trying to just create interest in the format by showing people what could potentially be done with it. Like others have said, this is not only pointless right now but will also probably never come into fruition. [ + quote]
ThePastor (Junior Member) 7 July 2008 16:51
A 400GB 2 1/2" HD would be cheaper and last MANY TIMES longer than these optical disks. [ + quote]
windsong (Junior Member) 7 July 2008 22:14
I saw a 1TB drive at Newegg going for about $159 with the rebate. Thats about 70 blu-ray movies (nothing ripped!) if we assume 15-20 gigs per movie. By contrast the price range for these 400G Discs, which can be scratched, will be way way more expensive than that. Hell even Blu-Ray blank media is still 12-15 bucks! Nice try, but no sale. [ + quote]
dsfeeer (Newbie) 7 July 2008 23:29
not bad,lol William Ellis [ + quote]
chaos_zzz (Junior Member) 8 July 2008 12:00
if ti works in evry blu-ray player ever made, it's a hit [ + quote]
NHS2008 (Senior Member) 12 July 2008 15:22
My HDD in it self is 320 gigs! [ + quote]
kemaf (Newbie) 12 July 2008 20:13
man could you imagine a 400gb gta game now that would be bad ass [ + quote]
iluvendo (AfterDawn Addict) 13 July 2008 3:25
*Originally posted by kemaf:* man could you imagine a 400gb gta game now that would be bad ass What would be the delay time be from accessing the info from 1 layer to another (not necesarily the next) ? would the game freeze during the delay (optical drives can only access so fast ! If it wasnt for bad luck, Id have no luck! "The flimsier the product,the higher the price" Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition [ + quote]
core2kid (Senior Member) 13 July 2008 3:52
*Originally posted by iluvendo:* *Originally posted by kemaf:* man could you imagine a 400gb gta game now that would be bad ass What would be the delay time be from accessing the info from 1 layer to another (not necesarily the next) ? would the game freeze during the delay (optical drives can only access so fast ! "Pioneer Develops 16x Blu-Ray Optical Drive" Lol, We'll be seeing something close to that soon enough. My PC: Core2Quad Q6600 @ 3.07GHz\|Asus P5K-E Wifi AP Edition\|4GB RAM @ 817MHz\|6800GT 350MHz/900MHz\|250GB SATA2 Primary XP\|200GB SATA1 Secondary Vista\|500GB WD MyBook\|Vista Rating 5.0 My Game Systems(Order of Release): Atari 2600\|Genesis\|GB Original\|PS\|GB Pocket\|N64\|GB Color\|Dreamcast\|PS2 w/ HD Loader\|PS2\|GameCube\|XBOX Halo Edition\|GBA SP\|Slim PS2\|DS Silver\|DS Blue\|PSP @ 3.90M33-3\|GB Micro\|XBOX 360 HD DVD Player\|PS3 80GB MGS Bundle [ + quote]
iluvendo (AfterDawn Addict) 13 July 2008 4:27
But accessing 16 layers in random fashion ? Even at 16x, a huge delay ? I don't know. Need help on this one If it wasnt for bad luck, Id have no luck! "The flimsier the product,the higher the price" Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13 July 2008 4:28
core2kid (Senior Member) 13 July 2008 11:15
There probably would be some sort of delay. Still, I think it would be fast enough to access things fast, I mean game developers wouldn't be stupid enough to place parts of a level randomly on each layer, they would have 1 level per layer so there wouldn't have to be random seeking per layer. My PC: Core2Quad Q6600 @ 3.07GHz\|Asus P5K-E Wifi AP Edition\|4GB RAM @ 817MHz\|6800GT 350MHz/900MHz\|250GB SATA2 Primary XP\|200GB SATA1 Secondary Vista\|500GB WD MyBook\|Vista Rating 5.0 My Game Systems(Order of Release): Atari 2600\|Genesis\|GB Original\|PS\|GB Pocket\|N64\|GB Color\|Dreamcast\|PS2 w/ HD Loader\|PS2\|GameCube\|XBOX Halo Edition\|GBA SP\|Slim PS2\|DS Silver\|DS Blue\|PSP @ 3.90M33-3\|GB Micro\|XBOX 360 HD DVD Player\|PS3 80GB MGS Bundle [ + quote]
alexeemo (Newbie) 15 July 2008 12:18
As much as I love my PS3 Blu-Ray player with my 57" high def tv, I honestly think the future is Flash Media technology. There eventually won't be any discs at all! Blockbuster will be a kiosk like Redbox. You'll stroll up to it, download the movie to your personal storage device and go. How great would that be? No more title shortages, either in movies or gaming, no more scratches or warped discs, virtual child resistant. Besides that, there is the whole portability issue. Imagine being able to take all your games and movies with you to your friends and families house? Can't wait. [ + quote]