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Hitachi's 100GB Blu-ray disc drive
Sure, it's just a prototype for now, but we can't help but feel a bit smitten with any drive capable of playing 100GB of data off a single 4-layer optical disc. The BD camp was also touting 200GB, 8-layer discs as they have since 2004 (at least) while showing off the components that will usher in 8x performance (double-that of existing commercial gear) in a more realistic timeframe. When that might be exactly, no one's willing to say.
Hitachi to produce 200GB Blu-ray disc in 2009
The HD movie format war aside, there will almost certainly always be a need for a disc medium to backup our computer files with, and Blu-ray has been trying to fill that need since its release. Unlike the other format, Blu-ray burners hit the market before the movie players did, and gave computer users the ability to backup more data than ever before on a 80mm disc. Even if both formats are replaced by downloadable content, there will still be a need for big optical discs to store those movies, and Hitachi plans to offer an 8-layer Blu-ray disc capable of storing 200GB of data. While this seems like a lot today, by the time it hits the market in 2009 it might not seem like much at the rate hard discs capacity is increasing.Read - Subscription required
