Pioneer Japan announced today that it has developed the world's first 16-layer optical disc with a capacity of 400GB. The disc has a per-layer capacity of 25GB, which is the same as existing Blu-ray Discs. The optical specifications of the objective lens are also the same, while makes it possible to maintain compatibility between the new 16-layer optical disc and existing Blu-ray Discs.

Pioneer Corporation has succeeded in developing a 16-layer read-only optical disc with a capacity of 400 gigabytes for the first time in the world. Its per-layer capacity is 25 gigabytes, which is the same as that of a Blu-ray Disc (BD). This multilayer technology will also be applicable to multilayer recordable discs. This development has bolstered Pioneer's confidence in the feasibility of a large-capacity optical disc, which is expected to become necessary in the near future.

For multilayer optical discs, it has been difficult to obtain clear signals from each recording layer in a stable manner due to crosstalk from adjacent layers and transmission loss. Utilizing the optical disc production technology that it has developed in the DVD field, Pioneer solved these problems by, among other things, using a disc structure that can reduce crosstalk from adjacent layers, resulting in a 16-layer optical disc that can playback high-quality signals from every layer.

As for the read-out system, Pioneer achieved stability in the playback of recorded signals by employing a wide-range spherical aberration compensator and light-receiving element that can read out weak signals at a high signal-to-noise ratio in the optical pick-up mechanism. Since the optical specifications of the objective lens, such as NA (Numerical Aperture), are the same as those for the existing BD discs, it is possible to maintain compatibility between the new 16-layer optical disc and the BD discs.
Pioneer will be presenting the details of its research at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008 (ISOM/ODS2008), which begins on July 13. If you'd like to read more, Pioneer's entire press release can be found here. 0 Comments

CDRLabs finishes up the week with a review of Lite-On's new EZ-DUB enabled DVD writer, the DX-20A4PU. While affordably priced, this external drive sports some pretty impressive specs including 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. The DX-20A4PU  also features many of the technologies we've come to expect from Lite-On including more advanced ones like SmartWrite and OverSpeed. More importantly, its EZ-DUB technology makes copying discs and backing up data a quick and easy process.

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ONKYO announced today that it will be shipping its first Blu-ray Disc Player in late 2008. While there aren't a lot of details, ONKYO has stated that the player is designed to work with their high-definition A/V receivers and will offer Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding.
ONKYO Corporation has announced that it will release its first Blu-ray Disc Player for the international market in late 2008. This player is designed to partner Onkyo’s high-definition A/V receivers equipped with full HDMI processing of 1080p video and decoding of Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD™ Master Audio surround sound formats.

Onkyo was among the first home theater manufacturers to offer full audio and video processing capabilities for HD formats such as Blu-ray Disc. The company’s A/V receivers deliver a complete high-definition experience with onboard decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs. The release of this Blu-ray Disc player will be timely given that the second-generation of high-definition-capable Onkyo A/V receivers is now available.
No word yet on price but knowing ONKYO, their new Blu-ray Disc player won't be cheap. If you'd like to read more, ONKYO's entire press release can be found here. 0 Comments

OCZ Technology recently announced its new OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5” Solid State Drives (SSDs). The OCZ Core Series SSDs are available in capacities up to 128GB and is capable of 120-143 MB/s read and 80-93 MB/s write speeds. Best of all, they are priced 50% less than comparable high performance SSDs.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5” Solid State Drives (SSDs). OCZ has gained momentum in this pioneering technology, which uses NAND flash instead of rotating platters as the storage medium, and is a high-performance, highly reliable and energy-efficient alternative to conventional hard disc drives.

The OCZ Core Series delivers the performance and reliability of the latest SSDs at a 50% less price per gigabyte than other high speed offerings currently on the market. For the first time, OCZ is putting SSD technology within reach of the average consumer, and delivering on the promise of SSDs as an alternative to traditional hard drives in consumer targeted mobile applications.
OCZ has not announced when then the Core Series will ship. However, they have stated that the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB versions will be priced at $169, $259 and $479, respectively, at the time of launch. If you'd like to read more, OCZ's entire press release can be found here. 0 Comments

With 6x Blu-ray Disc writers hitting the market, media manufacturers have begun to produce BD-R discs capable of these speeds. DigiTimes is reporting that both CMC and Ritek are in the process of getting their 6x BD-R media certfied and plan to begin volume production later this year.
CMC Magnetics and Ritek have 6x Blu-ray Disc (BD)-R discs in the process of certification by potential clients and plan to kick off volume production in August and some time in the third quarter, respectively, according to the two companies.

Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic) last week became the world's first vendor to unveil 6x BD-R discs and will launch single- and double-layer versions for sale in Japan next month, according to industry sources in Taiwan. The BD Association approved the 6x BD-R specification in March defining a maximum write speed of 216Mbps, 20-25% faster than that of 16x DVD+R/-R, the sources noted.
The article also points out that 6x BD-R discs are expected to be relatively expensive and that discs rated at 2x and 4x will remain the mainstream standard. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. 0 Comments

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