AfterDawn: Tech news

Report: 1TB optical discs coming in 3 years

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Nov 2012 8:34 User comments (38)

Report: 1TB optical discs coming in 3 years

According to a new report, Fujifilm will have 1TB optical discs by 2015.
The company has developed a new recording method that can reach 25GB per layer, with double sided discs between up to 20 layers.

Current Blu-rays offer the same capacity per layer (25GB) but only go as high as 100GB for special Blu-ray XL discs.

Fujifilm will look to commercialize the technology by 2015. The new method involves "two-photon absorption technology to increase the number of layers and it employs a 405nm Ti/S laser."

If allowed to evolve, the tech can eventually offer a capacity of 15TB.

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38 user comments

124.11.2012 01:15

I wonder if it is that new holodisk technology?

224.11.2012 08:34

I wonder about reliability...what would a small surface scratch do to a two-photon media?

324.11.2012 10:35

Originally posted by joebloe12:
I wonder if it is that new holodisk technology?
I wonder that as will, been quite some time since I last heard about the holo. Good nonetheless, I loved advancements in new tech especially storage.

424.11.2012 10:37

Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?

524.11.2012 10:49

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?

624.11.2012 11:19

Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.

724.11.2012 12:29

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

824.11.2012 12:32

Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

924.11.2012 12:48

Interesting but that's all; surely not commercially relevant anyway.

1024.11.2012 12:56

Yeah, I'm thinking "What's the purpose"?
I never even got a Bluray burner.

In order for it to be useful it would have to be very cheap, like CD, and you know it won't be. It will require a new $250 burner and each disk will cost $75, and 1/3 of the disks you burn won't work.

1124.11.2012 15:07

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

what happens when silicone becomes the next crude oil? we're burning through the stuff just like it. Silicon is the substance that can turn a 3rd world county into a military super power all it needs are the right minds to forge it.

i think we need to stop looking at silicon as a magical way to make electronics, after all piss of the wrong parts of the world and your country may find itself paying 10 grand a kilobyte like its the 1960's.

1224.11.2012 21:03

Originally posted by ThePastor:
Yeah, I'm thinking "What's the purpose"?
I never even got a Bluray burner.

In order for it to be useful it would have to be very cheap, like CD, and you know it won't be. It will require a new $250 burner and each disk will cost $75, and 1/3 of the disks you burn won't work.
You could say that about all new tech, however, in due time it gets cheaper.

1324.11.2012 23:17

Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

what happens when silicone becomes the next crude oil? we're burning through the stuff just like it. Silicon is the substance that can turn a 3rd world county into a military super power all it needs are the right minds to forge it.

i think we need to stop looking at silicon as a magical way to make electronics, after all piss of the wrong parts of the world and your country may find itself paying 10 grand a kilobyte like its the 1960's.
Meh graphite/carbon will replace it soon enough on that kind of grand scale.

Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ThePastor:
Yeah, I'm thinking "What's the purpose"?
I never even got a Bluray burner.

In order for it to be useful it would have to be very cheap, like CD, and you know it won't be. It will require a new $250 burner and each disk will cost $75, and 1/3 of the disks you burn won't work.
You could say that about all new tech, however, in due time it gets cheaper.
The trouble is its not happening fast enough thus why old tech hard drives are almost better/cheaper for data storage.

1424.11.2012 23:37

1st dvd burners for computers were $1000+ when they 1st came out, now you can get them for about $30.

1525.11.2012 00:00

Originally posted by ddp:
1st dvd burners for computers were $1000+ when they 1st came out, now you can get them for about $30.
True but unlike then you have data so large that its out paced disc based consumer development.

If you could get 50 25GB discs for 20$ a year ago there would not be an issue, sadly they are twice to trice that and not coming down any time soon to meet the demands of data hoarders :P.

1625.11.2012 01:06

Originally posted by ThePastor:
Yeah, I'm thinking "What's the purpose"?
I never even got a Bluray burner.

In order for it to be useful it would have to be very cheap, like CD, and you know it won't be. It will require a new $250 burner and each disk will cost $75, and 1/3 of the disks you burn won't work.
My hope is that the commercial industry will be able to use these to produce full TV seasons of programs on one disc, instead of requiring multiple Blu-rays.

1725.11.2012 08:28

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
Let's see...a blank bluray costs under a buck for 25GB...so no, flash memory isn't cheap enough...when it costs 2-3 times as much per GB it might be, but with the slow rate of price reduction and the possibility of 1TB+ optical disks, that might be a very long time.

Originally posted by DVDBack23:
My hope is that the commercial industry will be able to use these to produce full TV seasons of programs on one disc, instead of requiring multiple Blu-rays.
I was hoping that for Bluray...at least with older shows. Instead they upscaled everything to BD resolutions so they took just as much space. I'm guessing that these 1TB disks will be useful for 3D UltraHD content...and they will probably just upscale all the old stuff to 3D UltraHD so the 10-disk box set remains 10 disks.

1825.11.2012 09:30

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
Let's see...a blank bluray costs under a buck for 25GB...so no, flash memory isn't cheap enough...when it costs 2-3 times as much per GB it might be, but with the slow rate of price reduction and the possibility of 1TB+ optical disks, that might be a very long time.

Originally posted by DVDBack23:
My hope is that the commercial industry will be able to use these to produce full TV seasons of programs on one disc, instead of requiring multiple Blu-rays.
I was hoping that for Bluray...at least with older shows. Instead they upscaled everything to BD resolutions so they took just as much space. I'm guessing that these 1TB disks will be useful for 3D UltraHD content...and they will probably just upscale all the old stuff to 3D UltraHD so the 10-disk box set remains 10 disks.
Flash no normal hard drives yes. Still I just do not see the need for a new disc format.

1926.11.2012 11:29

This is about as likely as the commercial sale of CDs & DVDs with more than 1 or 2 layers.
That has been possible for years but nobody ever tried selling them (and the burners etc).

Outside of Japan who bothered with Blu-ray XL?
Hell, look at how Blu-ray as a recordable media has failed to attract users - and so misses out on the economies of scale which would be reflected in blank BD prices, BD 50 prices are laughable nevermind anything larger.
(and in case anyone is wondering I do have a BD burner but hardly ever use it, hard drives are just that much more convenient)

Personally I think optical media is dead, 16gb flash is dirt cheap, 32gb flash is cheap and getting cheaper and even the latest 64gb sticks are rapidly going the same way.
They're just too convenient.
Cheap, physically small, reliable, easy to use & offering huge storage.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 26 Nov 2012 @ 11:33

2026.11.2012 11:59

Originally posted by Interestx:
This is about as likely as the commercial sale of CDs & DVDs with more than 1 or 2 layers.
That has been possible for years but nobody ever tried selling them (and the burners etc).

Outside of Japan who bothered with Blu-ray XL?
Hell, look at how Blu-ray as a recordable media has failed to attract users - and so misses out on the economies of scale which would be reflected in blank BD prices, BD 50 prices are laughable nevermind anything larger.
(and in case anyone is wondering I do have a BD burner but hardly ever use it, hard drives are just that much more convenient)

Personally I think optical media is dead, 16gb flash is dirt cheap, 32gb flash is cheap and getting cheaper and even the latest 64gb sticks are rapidly going the same way.
They're just too convenient.
Cheap, physically small, reliable, easy to use & offering huge storage.
Perhaps but we still have another 10-15 years of normal physical storage for media so we will see at least 1 more optical disc format, maybe even 2 before streaming is the standard delivery method..

2129.11.2012 18:32

Keep the technology comming I say, I said I really wish I could fit a album on one floppy disk. I really wish I could put all my music on one CDR. I really wish I could get a full season on one DVD. I really wish I could get a full HD season on one Blu-Ray. I really wish I could get the complete series on one High Capacity Blu-Ray disk. I really wish I could put the complete series in UltraHD on one FUJIFILM disk..... I really wish I could put the complete interactive series in Holodeck (Star Trek) form on one disk, before I get to old and say thinks like who cares.....

2229.11.2012 19:07

cheap isn't exactly a plus for flash media besides until 64gb can be had for 5 bucks, ill keep archiving to Blue Ray. if i were to back up every thing i own it would be dame near 20 terrabytes at least. that would be a trunk full of flash drives you cant label because there too dame small.

2329.11.2012 19:17

Originally posted by DXR88:

cheap isn't exactly a plus for flash media besides until 64gb can be had for 5 bucks, ill keep archiving to Blue Ray. if i were to back up every thing i own it would be dame near 20 terrabytes at least. that would be a trunk full of flash drives you cant label because there too dame small.

128GB flash = 70$
1.25TB Blu ray= 50$
2TB Hard drive= 100$

I like hard drive more >>

2429.11.2012 19:37

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by DXR88:

cheap isn't exactly a plus for flash media besides until 64gb can be had for 5 bucks, ill keep archiving to Blue Ray. if i were to back up every thing i own it would be dame near 20 terrabytes at least. that would be a trunk full of flash drives you cant label because there too dame small.

128GB flash = 70$
1.25TB Blu ray= 50$
2TB Hard drive= 100$

I like hard drive more >>

Harddrives are no good for archiving for long periods of time, there's a reason companies still use tape drives to backup records.

2529.11.2012 20:34

Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by DXR88:

cheap isn't exactly a plus for flash media besides until 64gb can be had for 5 bucks, ill keep archiving to Blue Ray. if i were to back up every thing i own it would be dame near 20 terrabytes at least. that would be a trunk full of flash drives you cant label because there too dame small.

128GB flash = 70$
1.25TB Blu ray= 50$
2TB Hard drive= 100$

I like hard drive more >>

Harddrives are no good for archiving for long periods of time, there's a reason companies still use tape drives to backup records.
Meh if you use them as an archive that's rarely used they will last for 10 years or longer. Which is longer than my burnt DVD collection lasted :P

2630.11.2012 09:32

Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

what happens when silicone becomes the next crude oil? we're burning through the stuff just like it. Silicon is the substance that can turn a 3rd world county into a military super power all it needs are the right minds to forge it.

i think we need to stop looking at silicon as a magical way to make electronics, after all piss of the wrong parts of the world and your country may find itself paying 10 grand a kilobyte like its the 1960's.
But silicon (not silicone) is the second most abundant element on earth. I wouldn't lose any sleep over a shortage of the stuff. Worry about rare earths & helium, if you must worry.

2730.11.2012 10:36

It's a bad idea to develop old technology like this when solid state if the current and more dependable way to go.

2830.11.2012 11:23

Originally posted by robertmro:
It's a bad idea to develop old technology like this when solid state if the current and more dependable way to go.
Ya but its costs 12 times more.

2930.11.2012 12:03

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Ya but its costs 12 times more.
Some drives are expensive but flash sticks & the smaller solid state drives are falling pretty fast.

Ultimately I would expect the manufacturing processes to highly favour solid state (no moving parts & no highly delicate pieces verses a photo etching process which can be done in vast volumes......plus, as danl28 rightly says silicon is one of the most abundant elements on the planet.....oh and last I heard rare earths aren't so rare afterall, it's all about extratcing them as cheaply as possible and right now China is happy to play ball on that one).

The central fact in this remains though, optical media is a dying thing.
Blank disc sales for Blu-ray are not especially impressive - and I'd suggest guaranteed to stay that way as burner prices remain where they are and BD50 prices stay so expensive - I'll conceed BD25 prices can be reasonable, I know I've bought & used them, but set against the last lot of 2tb hard drives I bought there is no comnparison, hard drives all the way..
Blank Blu-ray XL sales are minute and at the prices they expect likely to stay that way too.

A bigger and more expensive disk?
Why would anyone invest in making them on any sort of large scale given the less than impressive recordable Blu-ray performance?

There is no movie boost to using a larger disc, one film in 1080p with lossless audio fits easily on a BD50 - or BD25 - and that is where the home market is likely to be for a very long time to come.
(Daydreams about 4K HD in the mass market included.)


3030.11.2012 12:05

Originally posted by Interestx:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Ya but its costs 12 times more.
Some drives are expensive but flash sticks & the smaller solid state drives are falling pretty fast.

Ultimately I would expect the manufacturing processes to highly favour solid state (no moving parts & no highly delicate pieces verses a photo etching process which can be done in vast volumes......plus, as danl28 rightly says silicon is one of the most abundant elements on the planet.....oh and last I heard rare earths aren't so rare afterall, it's all about extratcing them as cheaply as possible and right now China is happy to play ball on that one).

The central fact in this remains though, optical media is a dying thing.
Blank disc sales for Blu-ray are not especially impressive - and I'd suggest guaranteed to stay that way as burner prices remain where they are and BD50 prices stay so expensive - I'll conceed BD25 prices can be reasonable, I know I've bought & used them, but set against the last lot of 2tb hard drives I bought there is no comnparison, hard drives all the way..
Blank Blu-ray XL sales are minute and at the prices they expect likely to stay that way too.

A bigger and more expensive disk?
Why would anyone invest in making them on any sort of large scale given the less than impressive recordable Blu-ray performance?

There is no movie boost to using a larger disc, one film in 1080p with lossless audio fits easily on a BD50 - or BD25 - and that is where the home market is likely to be for a very long time to come.
(Daydreams about 4K HD in the mass market included.)


Er.....right now its.

128GB flash = 70$
1.25TB Blu ray= 50$
2TB Hard drive= 100$

3130.11.2012 18:10

Originally posted by danl1248:
Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

what happens when silicone becomes the next crude oil? we're burning through the stuff just like it. Silicon is the substance that can turn a 3rd world county into a military super power all it needs are the right minds to forge it.

i think we need to stop looking at silicon as a magical way to make electronics, after all piss of the wrong parts of the world and your country may find itself paying 10 grand a kilobyte like its the 1960's.
But silicon (not silicone) is the second most abundant element on earth. I wouldn't lose any sleep over a shortage of the stuff. Worry about rare earths & helium, if you must worry.

abundance doesn't matter, what does matter is the rate of consumption. gold and oil used to be abundant too, now we squabble and murder each other over the stuff.

3230.11.2012 18:17

Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by danl1248:
Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

what happens when silicone becomes the next crude oil? we're burning through the stuff just like it. Silicon is the substance that can turn a 3rd world county into a military super power all it needs are the right minds to forge it.

i think we need to stop looking at silicon as a magical way to make electronics, after all piss of the wrong parts of the world and your country may find itself paying 10 grand a kilobyte like its the 1960's.
But silicon (not silicone) is the second most abundant element on earth. I wouldn't lose any sleep over a shortage of the stuff. Worry about rare earths & helium, if you must worry.

abundance doesn't matter, what does matter is the rate of consumption. gold and oil used to be abundant too, now we squabble and murder each other over the stuff.
Ya but neither were as abundant as silicone and at the rate stuff gets tossed/recycled I think we should be fine till nano carbon stuff takes off. ^^

3330.11.2012 18:33

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by danl1248:
Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by deucezulu22:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Why? Is not silicone cheap enough?
What's that suppose to mean?
Flash memory,ect.
Alright, but why just end at flash memory when you can make other memory advancements. I rather have all the doors open.

Ya but blu ray is practically useless for backing up stuff on, so will this new disc system.

what happens when silicone becomes the next crude oil? we're burning through the stuff just like it. Silicon is the substance that can turn a 3rd world county into a military super power all it needs are the right minds to forge it.

i think we need to stop looking at silicon as a magical way to make electronics, after all piss of the wrong parts of the world and your country may find itself paying 10 grand a kilobyte like its the 1960's.
But silicon (not silicone) is the second most abundant element on earth. I wouldn't lose any sleep over a shortage of the stuff. Worry about rare earths & helium, if you must worry.

abundance doesn't matter, what does matter is the rate of consumption. gold and oil used to be abundant too, now we squabble and murder each other over the stuff.
Ya but neither were as abundant as silicone and at the rate stuff gets tossed/recycled I think we should be fine till nano carbon stuff takes off. ^^
you cant recycle the stuff once its processed into a wafer or smelted with other elements.

342.12.2012 06:01

Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by DXR88:
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
Originally posted by DXR88:

cheap isn't exactly a plus for flash media besides until 64gb can be had for 5 bucks, ill keep archiving to Blue Ray. if i were to back up every thing i own it would be dame near 20 terrabytes at least. that would be a trunk full of flash drives you cant label because there too dame small.

128GB flash = 70$
1.25TB Blu ray= 50$
2TB Hard drive= 100$

I like hard drive more >>

Harddrives are no good for archiving for long periods of time, there's a reason companies still use tape drives to backup records.
Meh if you use them as an archive that's rarely used they will last for 10 years or longer. Which is longer than my burnt DVD collection lasted :P

I would not trust all my data on a hard drive, and as burnt media, since I started using ty's and verb's to burn my movies back in 2004 no problem since, I know it's not 10 years yet but much better than any hardrive I ever owned.

352.12.2012 06:49

i tryed a music cd otherday it was a copied cd from 2001 (its actually the album ma$e double up).it wasnt skipping much but it was distorted.made like a crackling sound when it was playing.

362.12.2012 07:15

Originally posted by xboxdvl2:
i tryed a music cd otherday it was a copied cd from 2001 (its actually the album ma$e double up).it wasnt skipping much but it was distorted.made like a crackling sound when it was playing.
Since I started burning back in 2002 before I switched to ty's and verbs I had to get rid of most of the other disc's I used mainly because of problems such as your and others, I think if you stick with good media handle it and store it properly it will outlast any hardrive I know of.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Dec 2012 @ 8:04

372.12.2012 12:06

Well I'm not so impressed with Verbatim DVDs.
I have a couple burned in 2007 which are now unplayable - and these were always kept out of the sun, in their cases properly, handled gently & only played 2 or 3 times.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Dec 2012 @ 12:07

382.12.2012 20:14

We all have opinions that differ, we all have experienced different outcomes, and of course mine is very different from yours, there is no right or wrongs here as we did and do have different statistics, a teacher thought me something about statistics way back when as she said.

As my sadistic teacher use to say...

"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics."
"Statistics never lie, but liars use statistics."
"99% of statistics are completely useless. Including these"

Either way sorry you had problems with your media.


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