quote:
Pioneer has developed an optical disc that can hold up to 400G bytes of data easily surpassing previously announced prototypes.
The new disc manages to pack 16 layers, each with a 25G-byte capacity, into a conventional 12-centimeter diameter optical disc. The new discs are similar to Blu-ray Disc technology and slight changes to the hardware on a Blu-ray drive would allow the new Pioneer discs to be used on one.
Pioneer doesn't have any plans to commercially produce the disc but is looking to work with disc manufacturers who would make it themselves. The technology is about ready to enter commercialization, said Michiko Kadoi, a spokeswoman for Pioneer in Tokyo.
A one-sided Blu-rayDisc has 25G bytes of capacity, far less than the Pioneer disc.
