TDK, a leading manufacturer of optical discs and various other electronics, has demonstrated the world's highest-capacity Blu-ray disc media to date. The disc can hold 1TB of data and consists of many recording layers. Unfortunately for TDK, it is unlikely that such media will reach mass market in foreseeable future.

At Ceatec Japan trade-show TDK showcased 1TB Blu-ray optical media that features 32 layers in total (16 per side) with each layer capable of holding of 32GB of data, reports Tech-On web-site. One of the problems associated with such multi-layer high-capacity discs is necessity to develop a material for layers with high light transmittance. TDK did not reveal which alloy it had to use. The company stressed that symbol error rate from reading from such discs is low enough for mass products. However, the data layers themselves are not compliant with Blu-ray spec.

"According to the specifications of the Blu-ray Disc, the thickness of a recording layer has to be 100μm or less. But the recording layer of the new disc is 260μm in thickness. And it causes the aberration of an optical lens," a spokesperson for TDK is reported to have said.

TDK hopes that the  expects that the new optical disc will eventually be used as a home-use recording medium, a backup medium and a medium for a broadcasting service.

TDK and Pioneer are the two companies, who consistently demonstrate large-capacity non-standard Blu-ray disc media. Pioneer Corp. said in mid-2008 that it had succeeded in developing a 16-layer read-only optical disc with a capacity of 400GB for the first time in the world. Later in 2008 Pioneer also said that technology-wise it could develop a 500GB BD. TDK showcased 320GB BD media about a year ago. Unfortunately, even BD XL standard ratified earlier this year does not support capacities larger than 128GB. As a result, all the demonstrations are rather a proof of concept than a showcase of a feasible product.

Tags: Blu-ray, TDK