TDK hard at work on 8-layer 200GB Blu-ray Disc

Since Sony, et al. hammered out the Blu-ray Disc spec, there's been speculation, theorization, and discussion of an 8-layer 200GB disc. Sony even supposedly had some working 200GB BRD demos way back in 2004. Well, now those mammoth coasters are in the works over at TDK, who apparently hope to commercialize the first presumably quad-layered dual-sided discs (or possibly octo-layered single-sided discs -- yeah, right). They're not giving it up as to when these discs could come out or how much they'll cost, but right now we're more worried about just getting our hands on some players, you know?

[Via TechDigest]

[Dave @ Apr 12th 2006 6:12PM]

The high cost of the players, the high cost of the media, the excessive DRM, and the shifting standards are going to kill Blu-Ray. Long live HD-DVD.

[Dave @ Apr 12th 2006 6:12PM]

Oh, and the guy in the shower cap isn't doing them any favors either.

[Dave @ Apr 12th 2006 6:31PM]

Word has it, it'll only take 4 months to burn 200GB worth of data to the disc.

[bob @ Apr 12th 2006 6:42PM]

dave, dont be stupid, there will be 3 times as many BR players to HD players within the 1st year beacuse of Playstation3 sales, do not underestimate that, it did a lot for dvd with ps2.

[mike jones @ Apr 12th 2006 6:45PM]

Who would want 200gb of data on a scratchable and breakable disc, when it would seem almost more economical to get a 200gb external hdd, for less than the burner/reader and 8 layer discs. Sure its not as portable, but who cares. HD DVD will win. This next gen disk format just gives me a headache really. Anyone heard of that holographic 6 petabyte (or something rediculous like that) rewriteable disc drive? And the 3.6 TB disc that costs 10K for burner/reader and $125 for each disc. Stick with external hard drives people.

[Razib Ahmed @ Apr 12th 2006 6:46PM]

8-layer 200GB Blu-ray Disc is great. In this rat race TDK is going to win finally. However, I believe that price is going to be a big factor If it is too expensive then the product may suffer an early exit. TDK should be careful about it. If they can address the price factor it has huge potential.

[trooper11 @ Apr 12th 2006 6:47PM]

bob, that was true for the ps2 becuase it was the cheapest dvd player to buy at the time.

this time though, its different. HD-DVD players will luanch at $500 and the PS3 is likely to hit the $500+ range. Now if it doesnt, then things will be different, but if it does hit that range, then you wont see a repeat of the ps2 situation.

[GuyManDude @ Apr 12th 2006 6:53PM]

how about VMD?

[hmurchison @ Apr 12th 2006 6:56PM]

200gb 8-Layer disc is just silly. This is just geek machismo. It already takes 43 minutes to burn a dual layer BD-R disc now image what happens if they cannot doubt the record speed reliably. You're looking at nigh 2hr record times and tolerances so thin it'll be amazing if discs are every affordable.

All the current BD players would need to be replaced because the BD spec does't have support for 4 or 8-Layer discs.

Last but not least. How many movies do you really need on one disc. Isn't a half day's worth ok? Do I really need EVERY episode of Gilligan's Island on one disc?

There's a point in which common sense just flies out the window.

[Paqza @ Apr 12th 2006 6:57PM]

Everyone screaming about how expensive it is...JEEZ, are you people serious? It is brand new technology. 10 years from now, I certainly believe that we will have optical storage discs in the hundreds of GBs. In the early 90s, the 5.25" and then the 3.5" floppies were still the rage. This is progress, people. Don't complain about it being expensive right now, because, obviously it is going to take time for the prices to come down, but honestly, do you think you could have predicted ten cent DVDs that hold 4.5GB of information when you were still dicking around with the 1.44MB floppies?

I don't honestly care which wins as long as DRM doesn't cripple said format.

[LeDoubleD @ Apr 12th 2006 7:17PM]

What I can't imagine is having 200GB of information that I would need to make a back-up or copy of in one sitting, and then, on top of that, advocating using another BR disc to update the back up. Or will these be rewritable from the beginning?

[TIMMAH! @ Apr 12th 2006 7:33PM]

I don't even use dual-layer now because it's doubling my chance of burning a bad disc, I sure as heck ain't going to a 8 layer!

[daschupa @ Apr 12th 2006 7:46PM]

Wow, wonder how long that would take to burn. Although this is cool (but somewhat useless) info, I'm sure one day soon we'll look back and laugh at our "who would ever need that much data" comments. Assuming robotic hybrids can laugh.

[Lee @ Apr 12th 2006 8:13PM]

Okay... far too many of you are insisting that price will end up killing BD... Are none of you who yell this crap old enough to remember how expensive the first DVD players were?
Now hush up and enjoy the battle, as it causes prices to drop... but it'll take a while, so don't get your tighty whities in a wad.

[Dave @ Apr 12th 2006 8:18PM]

A great article on this topic:

http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/04/my_choice_in_th.html#more

[sines~ @ Apr 12th 2006 8:25PM]

"5. Who would want 200gb of data on a scratchable and breakable disc"

I don't know why more effort isn't focussed on developing scratch-proof portable media. I'd be happy paying more per disc if each were surrounded in 3.5" floppy style suit of armour.

[delerious @ Apr 12th 2006 8:48PM]

TDK's Blu-Ray disks come with a coating of their special Durabis. Durabis is a super-hard coating that resists scratching, dust, and smudging. So don't complain about it scratching or getting dirty, cause it can be wiped to cleanliness.
If you want more information visit www.durabis.com

And in my mind, Blu-Ray is coming out as a winner. One, it's the PS3's primary format for games, so Sony is going to have to push it even if they fail. Blu-Ray disks debuted as 2x (rather than DVD-R's 1x starting speed), so I suppose that this means we will be seeing leaps in speeds.

[tiuk @ Apr 12th 2006 10:22PM]

I remember reading about Durabis almost a year ago in Maximum PC (might have been Max PC, or it might have been some website, can't remember). They did all kinds of torture tests (it was being demo's on regular DVDs) including scratching the discs across concrete and they still worked.

[Carl Geers @ Apr 12th 2006 10:29PM]

Ok.... I for one need high capacity storage. Video editing, music and still image production weigh in heavily as space consumers. I have a terabyte of storage and it is always full. So yes.... if you plink around on you pc and play video poker this tech isn't for you but for people like me this is a dream come true! I've been watching hard drives fail every year so when someone advocates the use of "another" hard drive to back up my data it almost makes me laugh.

I say push like hell for new technology, push like hell for digital freedom!!!

Carl Geers
www.pdxblackbook.com

[grey eminence @ Apr 13th 2006 12:04AM]

1.2 Petabytes to 10 Petabytes and beyond thats 1,ooo
TDK 200 gig drive.

http://www.colossalstorage.net

[Paul @ Apr 13th 2006 12:28AM]

A lot of the posters here seem to forget that end users aren't the only people who might be interested in this technology. Yeah, you might have enough space on your 300 GB external to store all your MP3s and UT mods. But what's really pushing the boundaries of storage are the needs of today's huge, multi-national companies, flush with peta upon petabyte of data, and in need of some way to store all that crap. Big companies are going to be interested in this, and in any other massive storage system.

Maybe 8-layer discs aren't the answer (though I am holding out hope for an 8-blade razor ... c'mon, they're already up to five!). But any technology that pushes the limits of what you can store on a single object is, in my opinion, basically a good thing.

[dan @ Apr 13th 2006 12:32AM]

heh 8 layers,i wish i could understand how the buners laser penatrates the layers indavidualy themselvs

[embassy @ Apr 13th 2006 12:40AM]

why dont they focus on gettin read/transer speeds up 1st...

[P. Queery D. @ Apr 13th 2006 12:46AM]

I think we should all go back to Laser Disc.

long live the VD format! I've got VD! Yey!

[Jon Speed @ Apr 13th 2006 1:04AM]

#9."Do I really need EVERY episode of Gilligan's Island on one disc? "

Shit no, but having every episode of The Simpsons, Family Guy, Seinfeld, and Chappelle's show on a single disc....... F'in sold!

[eric @ Apr 13th 2006 1:16AM]

Just great, another format wall and we haven't even got Blu-ray or HDDVD in our places. Just great...

[http:www.buildcalgary.com @ Apr 13th 2006 1:20AM]

yet another beta war ... I wonder who will win.

[Elias @ Apr 13th 2006 1:43AM]

More importantly, however, is that you can now have all the HD-quality pr0n you own on only 3 discs

[Frank @ Apr 13th 2006 2:59AM]

I don't care if it's holographic or 8-layer blu-ray technology... I want SMALLER discs!
Could we please scale down these 12 cm diameter discs to something more portable?

4 cm would be quite nice.

THANKS!

[Madoff @ Apr 13th 2006 5:20AM]

Who could use 200GB on a single disc ? All the video editors out that would kill to have this for backing up a single project onto one disc . . Easy to transfer to clients too . . Long hours to burn thats ok . . Durabis, that's even more fantastic!

[TF @ Apr 13th 2006 7:16AM]

As a video editor, this disc would be AMAZING to have. Hard drives crash constantly and I routinely have to keep reloading my footage. Some projects easily go into the 1-2 Terabyte ranges. If I could keep all of my footage backed up onto 5 Blu-Ray Discs and for good measure have duplicates (Which would make it 10).

That in itself would make me take out the 'ole Visa card in a heartbeat.

The days when you literally can take all your favourite movies/music/whatever and place it on a single disc is coming near, and for archive/backup folks in which their lives DEPEND on a format to back it up...200 Gigs is a good beginning.

I now want my 1TB DVD!

[BK @ Apr 13th 2006 10:27AM]

With 200mb and MPEG4 encoding, you can finally have every season of "Sex in the City" or of "Sopranos" (or both combined)in one disc , instead of several ones as is the case now. The convenience of having it all in one disc is worth developing this technology.

[EatingPie @ Apr 13th 2006 10:53AM]

Okay, this thread is almost 100% misinformation.

(1) It's for DATA, not for movies (unless said movies are your DivX, et al, on you HDD).

(2) DRM has NOTHING to do with this 200GB disc.

(3) Did I mention DivX movies? Think like ... 50 HD DivX movies per disc -- DRM free!

(4) It's expensive NOW. Two years... Uh uh. (DVD launched at $1K people)

(5) BD targets TWO MARKETS -- next-gen DVD movie playback AND data storage/backup. EVEN if they lose the "next-gen DVD" format war, BD will STILL be a viable backup medium. And at 200GB, YES!

(6) File formats have grown in size over the years. When 200GB becomes viable/inexpensive, many people WILL be needing this (I need it now).

I'm hoping Endgadget guys star talking about BD in these terms -- separating the "move playback format" from the "data format." (Frustrated) posts like mine really aren't as effective at dispelling misinformation than a blog entry (hint! hint!).

-Pie

[Aleks @ Apr 14th 2006 9:36AM]

EatingPie:

Couldn't have said it better myself :)

If you haven't noticed the attitude of the engadget crowd, they are very much like politicians. They try to SPIN the key points of the article to be anti sony/blu-ray and pro HD-DVD.

"The high cost of the players, the high cost of the media, the excessive DRM, and the shifting standards are going to kill Blu-Ray. Long live HD-DVD." - I smell MS fanboy here! AACS DRM (Standard) > Other closed DRM? (MS DRM, Apple Fairplay?)

"200gb 8-Layer disc is just silly." - Yeah because its easy to bring a 3.5" external drive with my laptop with me when I travel rather than a laptop + BDRs.

I guess "640kb of memory is enough for everybody!"

[Escalation @ Apr 15th 2006 12:48PM]

It's nice to find that people cut right through the bullshit comments.

[Rusty @ Apr 15th 2006 3:52PM]

200 Gigs? Oh the possiblities. No more movies on reels, no more hard drives, I cant even finish thinking about what it can and will do untill it is actually around for sometime

[adult @ Apr 30th 2006 5:33PM]

good stuff

[Vincent @ May 7th 2006 11:42PM]

All of you are idiots and dont understand the differnce between blu-ray and HD-DVD. The reason why Blu-ray is better than HD-DVD is because Blu-ray can support Maximum Full HD (1080p) while HD-DVD can only support 1080i. The reason why PS3 will look better is because of the 1080p support it has which is the highest possible resolution. Yes...1080p HDTV's are the real pain. My dad bought a HDTV that supported 1080p for 20k. They are at least 10k and will go no lower than 8k, so unless your dad is a lawyer like mine, i'd go for HD-DVD because of most people tat look on the price and not quality. But 1080i and 1080p are very very very differnt. 1080p is almost 2x better looking. ( 1.7x times more colors)


LONG LIVE BLU-RAY


okay about the 200gb discs. These discs will first be used in the professional fields like professional video editing, Hollywood movies when they start filming in HD ( note that directors cut alot of their skits and will need the space so they wont have to keep switching discs), Gaming companies may also use this to store large amount of textures to validate at a differnt office, Hospitals may also use this for storing large amounts of patient data and also to store X-ray photo's in high-def since they need every pixel to stand out as much as possible when looking at a patient's x-rays.

For all you dumbasses that only think about your own pc's, start thinking about how working professionals can benifeit from these discs. Yes all you do is watch pr0n which DVD-R's work fine with but these discs arent made for local users like you that only watch videos,play video poker,listen to music, and go on msn messenger. these are for intense pc users like me that edit videos,backup games,and beta test softwares (which require lots of space for diffent builds).

[B.Greenway @ Jul 2nd 2006 9:12PM]

"All of you are idiots and dont understand the differnce between blu-ray and HD-DVD. The reason why Blu-ray is better than HD-DVD is because Blu-ray can support Maximum Full HD (1080p) while HD-DVD can only support 1080i."

Picked up a HD-DVD lately? The next time you do flip it over and see what the video is encoded at. Here’s a hint, its 1080p. Ok it was a big hint.

Stop confusing players and formats.

[Richard Lai @ Jul 3rd 2006 7:45AM]

"5. Who would want 200gb of data on a scratchable and breakable disc"

For those kids who want to keep 200GB of porn on one disc, and then be able to easily destroy them before their parents search their rooms! ;)

[justin @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:27PM]

this disc will be expensive, but who would actually use it?

I have an idea, how about an entire season of sopranos in hd on a single disc. yes, the disc would be expensive, but its already expensive to buy the season spread over 4 dvds, so who would notice the difference in price?

Eliminate the price difference, and all you have is a better product, who wouldn't want that