TDK Corp., a leading maker of recordable media, said Tuesday it was developing technologies that would leave behind its record of the last year and enable Blu-ray discs with 200GB of capacity.

The Tokyo, Japan-based storage specialist last May said it had developed quad-layer Blu-ray disc that could store up to 100GB of data and showcased the appropriate media at Consumer Electronics Show in the U.S. early in 2006. According to industrial estimations, 100GB Blu-ray discs may be released commercially in 2007, nevertheless, so far no one has publicly promised to launch during this timeframe officially.

TDK said in a recent statement that the company was “in the process of developing the world’s first 200GB Blu-ray disc prototype”, a capacity that is larger than today’s mainstream hard disc drives for personal computers (PCs). TDK has not disclosed any details regarding the technologies set to be utilized with the 200GB Blu-ray discs, but it is known that the company had to make some changes to the recordable materials to create the 100GB product.

A claim about possibility to enable 200GB Blu-ray media is targeted to showcase potential technology excellence of the Blu-ray discs over the competing HD DVD standard, which largest capacity is about 50GB today.

Traditional single-layer DVDs allow consumers to watch movies in 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) resolution with Dolby Digital audio. The blue-laser discs will provide consumers 1920x1080 resolution as well as DTS or Dolby Digital Plus audio along with some additional interactive features.

Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba and NEC as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, which are among the world’s largest makers of electronics. Among Hollywood studios HD is supported by Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, whereas Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox endorse Blu-ray.