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Optical Storage

23 May 2007

According to report by Tech-On, Sony recently presented their results on four-layer Micro-Reflector recording at this year's ODS meeting. A type of holographic recording, Micro-Reflector irradiates a disc on both sides, creating a set of virtual layers. Sony claims that this method is affected less by heat and is cheaper implement due to the use of existing blue-violet laser diodes.

In the Micro-Reflector recording, light beams are irradiated on both sides of the recording medium. Two light beams are then interfered on the recording layer by aligning their focal points, thereby recording an interference fringe which corresponds to 1-bit information capacity. The information is reproduced by emitting light on the front side of the medium. Interference fringes with different depths can be recorded by changing the depth of the focal points as in the case of recording on a multilayered medium.

In addition to multilayer recording, the company points out advantages in that the method is less likely to be influenced by the expansion/contraction of photopolymer due to heat, thus preventing signal reading errors. This is because the interference fringes are smaller than those used in other holographic recording methods where recording is performed on a page basis. The company expects that the Micro-Reflector system will easily facilitate reductions in equipment cost because it can utilize existing blue-violet semiconductor laser diodes and eliminate the need of a spatial phase modulator, CMOS sensor or other parts.

Micro-Reflector isn't without its problems. Along with slow data transfer rates, Sony has found that when recording to deeper layers, the signal gets weaker. Once Sony resolves these problems, they plan to introduce 20 layer discs with a total capacity of 500GB. If you'd like to read more, Tech-On's entire report can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

23 May 2007

Earlier this year, we reported that Moser Baer had purchased Philips' R&D subsidiary, OM&T, with the hope that it would jumpstart their Blu-ray media business. This acquisition has apparently paid off as Moser Baer is claiming that they've developed the world's first 8x Blu-ray Disc.

Optical and magnetic storage manufacturer Moser Baer India has developed the world’s first high speed 8x Blu-ray disc (BDR), which is a major advance in next generation optical media formats. The 8x Blu-ray disc (BDR) technology has been jointly developed with newly acquired OM&T, the former R&D subsidiary of Philips.

With the latest development, end users will be able to have a faster media that can record a 2-hour transmission equivalent of HD (High Definition) quality data in less than 15 minutes. The next generation formats have a capacity ranging from 15 GB to 50 GB and offer over five to ten times the data storage capacity of standard DVD media. These next generation formats are best suited for reliable business backup, such as medical and government imaging, photography, videography, as well as high definition video recording.

No word on pricing or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Moser Baer's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

23 May 2007

The Japanese company, Buffalo, has announced two new Blu-ray combo drives based on the Pioneer BDC-202. The internal BRC-5125FBS-BK and external BRC-5125U2 can read and write to most CD and DVD formats and can be used to play back Blu-ray Disc movies. Here is a full list of specs:

Writing Speeds: DVD±R: 12x DVD±R DL: 4x DVD±RW: 6x DVD-RAM: 5x CD-R: 24x CD-RW: 24x

Read Speeds: BD-ROM (Single): 5x Max BD-ROM (Dual): 2x Max BD-R/RE (Single): 5x Max BD-R/RE (Dual): 2x Max DVD-ROM (Single): 12x Max DVD-ROM (Dual): 8x Max DVD±R: 12x Max DVD±RW: 8x Max DVD±R DL: 8x Max DVD-RAM: 5x Max CD-ROM/CD-R: 32x Max CD-RW: 24x Max

The BRC-5125FBS-BK and BRC-5125U2 will ship in late June and are priced at 53,000 Yen ($435US) and 63,700 Yen ($523US)respectively. This isn't a very good deal considering you can get Blu-ray Disc writers for as little as $400 these days. If you'd like to read more, Buffalo's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage

22 May 2007

DigiTimes has reported that Ritek recently received certification for their HD DVD-R and HD DVD-RW media. According to the article, they are the first Taiwanese manufacturer to do so.

Ritek on May 21 announced it has received the certification for both HD DVD-R (recordable, write once) and HD DVD-RW (rewritable) formats, becoming the only Taiwan-based producer of optical discs to receive certification.

The technological barrier for HD DVD-R is quite high and that for HD DVD-RW is higher, Ritek indicated. Ritek's manufacturing capability for DVD+R/-R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs was helpful in obtaining the certification, the company pointed out.

The article also mentions that volume production of the two formats will begin during second half of this year at the earliest. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment