Next gen DVD standard agreed

[thrEEpaGe]

Next gen DVD standard agreed

Manufacturers have agreed a standard for the next generation of DVDs, which will be capable of holding more than six times as much information as existing discs.

The Blu-ray disk, so called because it works with a blue laser that operates at a higher frequency than current technology, can store up to 13 hours of film, compared to the current limit of 133 minutes. The new discs can hold up to 27GB of information.

Nine consumer technology firms (Sony, Philips, Samsung, LG, Thomson, Hitachi, Pioneer, Matsu****a and Sharp) have signed up to the standard. It is hoped that this will avoid a repeat of conflicting approaches that came with the introduction of DVDs in 1996.

DVD players which can record and play Blu-ray disks are expected to hit the market between 2003 and 2004.


http://www.tomshardware.com/technews/technews-20020219.html

Can you say "Dolby Digital 7.1"?

[Magnum2]

Well, let's hope that they can hold a 2 hrs movie with cinema image quality :)

And that they eliminate the absurd zone system and include all soundtracks and subtitles in the same disc... (the subtitles part can be done today)

[Dan12R]

Can we say HDTV quality???

[JPMaximilian]

HDTV quality...j/k, the new format sounds cool!

[StormHammer]

Ooops...just caught this one...and glad I did.

Sounds very promisiing...

But didn't I read somewhere a while back that someone was working on a disc that would hold 150Gb...or something? What happened to that, then? :confused:

[Darth Evad]

True blue LED's came out about 3 years ago. It was only a matter of time before they would put them to use in optical data storage.

I came up with an idea a few years ago that would vastly increase the amount of data on a disc.
Right now there is one layer of data on a disc (CD or DVD). Currently the laser colors used to read them are near infra red colors (around 790nm wavelength).
What if you could put 2 layers of data on a disc. One layer would be read by the near infra red laser and the other layer of data would be read by the blue laser.
It would be very easy to put 2 optical heads in a DVD/CD drive.
Not only that you could use both side of the disc, having 2 layers each. Put 2 optical heads above and below the disc.
Now you have 4 times the amount of information on the same size disc.
Not only that, you could use each layer at different times. True multitasking from a DVD/CD.

[Mafia_Jabba]

a new formate..more money for a player? Another overhaul in the blockbuster shelves?

[Argath]

DVD's actually already can have two layers of data. A semi-transparent layer is placed on top of a reflective layer, and the laser can simple focus on either one. You can usually identify dual-layer discs by the gold color of the data side.

[StormHammer]

Actually...I think that really high capacity disc they were working on had multiple layers...read by a combi of lasers, as you suggest. If they can perfect that...it would be great.

I guess that's a while off from production though. It always takes a while to introduce new standards...as you say, it usually means the consumer has to upgrade their collections...yet again... Doh. :(

[Jan Gaarni]

Originally posted by Argath
DVD's actually already can have two layers of data. A semi-transparent layer is placed on top of a reflective layer, and the laser can simple focus on either one. You can usually identify dual-layer discs by the gold color of the data side.

Woow!!!!
Imagine if they used Ur idea, Darth Evad, in addition to the dual layer tech that is currently used now, we would get 8 times as much storage space. :D

[Darth Evad]

A company called Balzers Optics in Germany is working on a 30 layer disc.
My idea was a couple of years too late. :)

[acdcfanbill]

yea but dual layer is nasty, for movie watching, it skips and flips when changing layers... and look at the T2 triple layer DVD. there is a warning that says many DVD players may not even be able to distinguish between different layers, making playback difficult... IMO layers are not always a good thing... different wavelength lasers will prob work well though..