Pioneer Builds Blu-ray Disc at 400 GB

A math problem for 21^st Century grade school student might look like this: At 25 GB per layer, how many layers would it take to provide a Blu-ray disc with a 400 GB capacity? The answer is 16 layers and it’s no longer a hypothetical scenario, that’s exactly what Pioneer has just pulled off. 

A Pioneer press release has just announced that it’s successfully cracked 16-layers on a Blu-ray disc and created the first with a 400 GB capacity. So far it’s only produced a read-only disc but Pioneer expects to use the same multilayer technology with recordable discs soon. 

It reminds me of a Saturday Night Live spoof of those razor blade commercials: 

“The closest shave known to man with 16-blades per stroke – enough blades to take your face clean off, with all the comfort of a patented aloe gel-strip!” 

But seriously, a 400 GB read-only optical disc has a lot of practical application – unlike a 16-blade razor or even a six-minute ab workout. 

Imagine having the Dirty Harry Blu-ray Box Set on one disc with special features or viewing the entire director’s cut Lord of the Rings Trilogy, without having to get up once to switch discs. It’s a panacea for couch potatoes everywhere and Pioneer is even boasting about multi-layer Blu-ray’s conservation appeal. Fewer discs and less packaging equal a reduction of your HD movie collection’s ecological footprint. 

The big question is whether or not the new discs will be playable on existing BD players. The press release alludes “…it is possible…” but EngadgetHD suggests that it may require modified optics. The matter should be cleared up when Pioneer presents details of its breakthrough at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008 in Hawaii on July 13.