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Plasmon Exhibits Working Blue Laser DVD Drive
tedgyz writes "CDR-Info has an article describing the first working prototype of a blue-violet laser optical disk drive. The drive boasts 30GB of storage, dubbed Ultra Density Optical (UDO). The article has technical details and images of the drive and media." We've been hearing about the advantages of blue light for seemingly years now. It's cool to see a product prepare for market that actually uses it.
30G? I think I shall have one.
We'll see this soon... does that mean before or after Duke Nukem Forever
Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
This is only slightly relevant, as these aren't laser diodes, but but I noticed this AM standard long-wave UV LEDs have hit the electronics surplus market in big numbers lately for cheep (All Electronics has these at $1.75). All you experimenters out there can stock up now!
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
We've been hearing about the advantages of blue light for seemingly years now.
We can't stop with blue light! We need to branch out into purple, yellow, even magenta! Soon all the colours of the world will be under our umbrella, and we will be all powerful!
This is the real signature
(Beats those shadows on the cave wall, don't it?)
Is it me or it would take an awfull lot of time to fill in this drive?
At 4MB/sec and a total capacity of 30 gig, it would take 2 hours and 8 minutes to burn the media.
And half that time to read it all?!?
I'd rather be sailing...
It's vaporware.
..they have to torment me with 30Gb drives. As I work up to getting a DVD-R, now they're under £200 I've been thinking 'Ah great, smaller stacks of CDs, easier backups..' - and but with these it'd be even easier.
Great. Can't sit around forever I guess, though.
It'd be nicer if optical media had kept pace with hard drive storage. At least it's now starting to catch up - I spotted in the article that "Future generations of drives and media will increase the usable capacity of discs to 60GB and 120GB. Backward read capability will be maintained throughout the whole product roadmap."
120GB on a single disk? Optical media may be really useful once again - providing it's cheap enough, soon enough.
It supports the new UDO disks and it is developed for professional data storage markets, covering archiving, document imaging, call centers, email archiving, GIS, medical, telecom, banking, insurance, legal and government.
... and for the non-professional data storage of personal pictures, pr0n pictures, legal music, pirated music, movies, and pr0n videos.
TodayTM BillyJoelTM GoogleTMd for StitchTMes due to WindowsTM while RollerbladeTMing with an AppleTM and a PopsicleTM
The laser's woman done him wrong...
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
I have always been wary about purchasing a so-called "red laser" DVD unit due to the historical ties that the color red has to Communism. Communism, as you are probably aware, resulted in hundreds of millions of death in the 20th Century. I could not, as a moral man, purchase a laser of this color. Who could sit down and watch Attack of the Clones without thoughts of the Soviet gulags distracting you?
Blue is the color of capitalism. It is also the color of patriotism and masculinity (as opposed to red, which is very close to the feminine color of pink.) It warms the heart to know that I can now watch my John Wayne collection on a moral device that is consistent with the ideals that I donned my country's uniform for in Grenada and Panama.
sustained write speed = 8MB/s. Then it would take more than 1 hour to fill the entire drive. That's like the old CDRom 1X!
take off every sig for great justice
I wouldn't be surprised if these discs end up costing more than $1/GB. You might as well just use hard disks to store your MP3s, warez, and pr0n.
I wonder how much blank media will cost. seing how when cd-r's used to be about $1 a disk and DVD-r's are currently around $4-5 a disk. I am guessing probly going to be around 15 a disk when this first comes out but at the current price of Harddrives thats a bargein. Of course when this hits the market Harddrives and other storage media will be alot cheaper.
All this low-level hardware tech is great, but how long before 2 or 3 camps form with different formats? It sure slowed down the adoption of writable DVD (I went with DVD+RW, myself). Bleh.
But in about ten years, they will combine this technology with that technology and dub it "Density Optical Hybrid" (DOH!).
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
The purpose in using blue instead of red is because blue has a shorter wavelength. Going further, the next step is in ultraviolet LEDs for shorter wavelengths and higher storeage densities.
(you heard it here first, get used to it)
sulli
RTFJ.
Try 10 years... I remember talking about these in 1993 as water cooler discussions as a sales rep for Egghead Software long before they became the Mayan Empire and made a complete transition to the Internet so they could sell volleyballs.
Laws are for people with no friends.
riiiigggghhhhttt.......
--Keeping the flame wars alive, one post at a time
A single fingerprint probably covers several hundred megabytes. :)
Err, I think the thread you're lookin for is thattaway, son
<-----
Thank God they used cartridges in this thing! That solves a plethora of headaches.
Lets hope that the big software makers like Sony/Matsushita et al. decide to use cartridges when they release their (possibly blue laser) HD-DVD players next year (presumably).
Nothing is worse than having media skip from a mere fingerprint or a slight scratch- especially when you are watching a movie!
damn
...UDO is its own standard of blue laser technology. The other great thing about Blu-Ray was that it was one standard: no DVD-R/RAM/-RW/+RW/ARGH! and now people come out with their own blue laser technologies? I want a 5.25 Blu-Ray drive that I can use to read Blu-Ray movies, make ISOs of them, backup my data, and not a billion standards.
*grumbles and walks off*
I'm one paranoid mother fucker... and I think you're out to get me! I will not post in favor of your coments for fear that the man will find me! THE MAN WILL FUND ME! And stop posting that anyways. It's been in like all the stories for the past day and no, it's never on topic.
I am a viral sig. Please help me spread.
correction: big HARDWARE makes... DUH
We have ultra density. Will the next standard be called "extreme density"? And after that "unbelievable density"?
They are going to start running out of adjectives in a little while. Quick! Somebody start a adjectives standards body!
Definetly x-ray lasers. Yeah baby! Of course the CDs will have to be lead or gold foil...
A LITTLE HELP PLEASE??? SOMEONE??
I'm assuming the blank disks will cost more.
i wish the man would fund me. i've been a little on the underfunded side
If there haven't been prototypes, how is Sony going to start selling them in a few weeks? What am I missing?
I am very well aware of the rendundant coding used to provide for a certain amount of resliance of the data, both on CDs and DVDs, but at a certain point when the data density becomes this high, I would imagine that the media would lose data when you just touch it.
One thing that would put me at ease is a kind of media that is completely hermetically protected by a transparent plastic shell. Perhaps a stationary disk while the reader is the one to rotate. That way you wouldn't even need the hole for the rotating spindle.
OTOH, with 30 GB, I can imagine I could put my whole collection of classical CD music on 5 UDOs, uncompressed. Or they will think about some abherration such as AudioDVD, so that the whole 30 GB will be just enough for some 60 minutes of music....
Sigged!
Come with a black face plate?
That white color would look terrible in my "stealth" case
HallmarkOrnaments.Com
"Plasmon Exhibits Working Blue Laser DVD Drive"
This is not DVD. It's an optical disk drive, which uses much of the same technology as DVD, but is definitely not the same specification. You would not be able to read a blue-laser disc in any 100% DVD-compliant drive.
Optical discs that can hold more than CD's are not necessarily them DVD's.
-Amalcon
What would be cool if we could get these density DVD on an 8cm mini-DVD. That way it would be a nice solution for portable MP3 player/high denisity hard disk. Just a clue for any product people reading :)
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Mod this parent up! It makes a very important statement. While you're modding it up, see if you can move it to the Flash article.
Heh, sometimes it's worth it to surf at zero.
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
What about dataplay, 500MB in the size roughly of a quarter. Very neat, but i think they ended up filing for bankruptcy over competition with flash cards and hard drive based mp3 players. I think even Britney Spears was scheduled to release an album using this technology.
The article says that the disks are double sided. Does this mean that you have to flip them as with DVD's?
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
For unintelligible statements in a story description like the one above, CowboyNeal should be sent to:
- KinderCare's Hooked on Phonics Class
- Jail -- Do Not Pass Go...
- Iraq -- To work as a translator for Baath
Also, as neet as you may find this "blue light" optical device, it's unique in that it is "Blue-Violet" not just blue. Prototypes of blue laser devices have been out for almost a year at least.I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
For those of us that have to do near-line storage, write-once archival (FTC guidelines for email retention, etc.), and other backup-ish stuff, this is a dream come true. Take that 10,000 disk DVD jukebox, swap the drives, and go from 40,000MB (about 3.5TB) to something nearly 10 times as dense (close to 28TB). God I can't wait for one of these. Toss in on your SAN, virtualize, and archive everything.
on newer DLT drives, this is amazing.
When having discrete, 30GB matters (for doing backups and archives and stuff), you almost always end up sacrificing speed to access said media. But this format is a vast improvement.
Of course, we won't now how much these systems will cost in the near future; just adding more tape drives in parallel could be more affordable!
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
Sony already has a shipping blu-ray unit. Granted, it's only available in Japan, but thta's what your local neighborhood import shop is for... This is just a list of specs and pictures... Check out all those inputs!
Now, back in 1996-1997, 1.6 gig on removeable media (not counting tape) was pretty damn cool, especially since the largest hard drives were what, 10 gig?. I thought I was going to have 80 gigs of removable storage. But after I checked the price of the drives (1000+), the disks just stayed in the box.
So I can see these catching on in the corperate world for massive data backups, but probably not in the consumer market, IMHO. That is, unless, the drives are on the same pricing level as CD/DVD burners.
Like zip disks, floppies, and mini-disc. Hence, you protect it from grubby fingers.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
KMart has been using the blue light for YEARS, and look where it got them!
What ever happened to FMD-ROM?
How about Penny-sized CDs
Or were these just another round of VC scams?
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
We've been hearing about the advantages of blue light for seemingly years now. It's cool to see a product prepare for market that actually uses it.
Interesting that you say that... You see, for me, It's been cool to see a product prepare for market that actually uses it for seemingly years now.
El Karma: excelente(principalmente la suma de moderación hecha a los comentarios de los usuarios)
Anyone else here licking there chops at a chance to play with one of these.
"I am a kernel in the linux army"
This media is just the right size for my needs. I just have one pressing question:
Will this new DVD drive turn all of my pr0n blue?
So when can I get my blue laser pen?
Please, everybody, buy these drives! Drive the price down so I can get it three years from now.
-ZOD-
Are we likely to see the initial (expensive) drives for sale a year from now?
This will really put the fear into Hollywood since it'll allow DVDs to be copied with ease.
This just makes me want to burst out singing.
KING:
Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.
Away to the cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to-do;
But I'll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.
For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!
For I am a Pirate King!
ALL:
You are!
Hurrah for the Pirate King!
KING:
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King.
ALL:
It is!
Hurrah for the Pirate King!
Hurrah for the Pirate King!
I'm sure companies know about other wavelengths. The reason why they don't drop in an even smaller wavelength is that they will miss out on all the sales of this blue laser technology and secure their places so they can sell and market different optical technologies for hundreds of years down the line. The only time you will see the next technology coming out is when they have milked this one for all it's worth, Don't be fooled, there are plenty of technologies that work but are not yet shown to the public. There are false claims that there isn't a way to expand certain technologies, yet they come out at just the right time.
When the Black Lite lasers finally come out we'll finally be able to store trillions of Elvis and sad dog pictures.
Seuss - I'm telling you this 'cause you're one of my friends. My alphabet starts where your alphabet ends
It seems your theory also holds true in distant galaxies.
Red light saber = Evil
Here's something that bugs me about this industry. Whenever they come out with some new technology that blows away the previous iterations, they give it a name like that. Which is... silly, given the rapid rate of change in the field. Yeah, it's superlative now, but give it a few years and it'll be quaint.
Instead of naming this one Ultra Density and naming the next one Super Ultra Density, then Superfly Fantastico Jumbo Ultra Density, seems like it would be a better idea to plan for the future and call this one "Medium density"
Rhetoricians have the same problem. They keep naming new writing styles things like "Modern poetry," which means that the next one has to be "Post-Modern" which just sounds silly if you don't say it so frequently that it stops having any real meaning.
--AC
If you read what, because of the statement of first, is a dupe post. Was it Sony or one of the 'P' companies released their statement on this a few weeks back, which hit /.
This is not good!
As you can see, we are still stuck with optical. In my opinion this is the worste imaginable idea!
CD's don't last that long because of scratching...and they can take a lot...DVD's are worse, with fingerprints rendiring them useless...imagine how bad this will be!
I have never considered optical as being a nice technology. I would honestly rather use magnetic disks like a hard disk platter or something similar...something that requires a very strong magnetic field to change the data (high coercivity like magstripes on industrial strength badges use).
The only thing I could see this used for would be a very low low usage application...like movies that you watch once every two or three months. I just hate the idea of having to be *more* carefull about touching the disk.
If *anything*, they should start covering the disks with a plastic container like minidiscs. This would fix everything wrong with optical media.
Like I put in a previouse comment
Hold on...let me clean the nanodust off.
Hey, sell a web-operated telerobot kit! That's be awesome to freak out my roommate's cat while at work. I'd buy one.
Am I the only one who noticed there's a new topic on slashdot: storage...
I'm not sure why this warrants it's own topic, but, hell, I guess it's okay. Things like this don't reall fall under 'science'
Recursive (adj.): see 'Recursive'
All I want is a friggin shark with a blue laserbeam on its head.
Linux - Because Mommy taught me to Share.
We've been hearing about the advantages of blue light for seemingly years now.
You can say that again! K-Mart rocks! I just can't resist those blue light specials.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
This is _NOT_ a troll, I would seriously like to know what the problem is in producing blue/violet or maybe even ultraviolet lasers. I know (vaguely) about the advantages of shorter wavelength of blue light compared to red, but nothing really in depth. Could someone enlighten me?
Learn from the mistakes of others. There isn't enough time to make them all yourself.
Okay, I'm forgetful and I'm too lazy to google. I forget--what are the advantages of the blue laser?
Furry cows moo and decompress.
A human lose of no military significance, but even children were killed.
I like it when arab/palestinian children die. I hope they all die so that there is enough room for Israel to grow.
Nowhere in the Plasmon information does it call this a DVD drive. In fact, the CDR-Info page specifically points out that this is NOT DVD.
It would be nice if the people releasing submissions would check the article titles for accuracy.
* As is generally the case, my opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
don't forget those two! :)
There are already 4 standards out trying to become the next DVD standard. One format is to use standard DVD discs and MPEG-4. The other is to use Blu-Ray discs to deliver HD-DVD using less compression for a better image.
Most people of course are in support of the new Blu-Ray discs but just like Beta\VHS and DVD-A\SACD there are competing formats that may delay the technology.
Click here to support ONE HD-DVD FORMAT
http://www.kubuntu.org/
on a single disk.
All ready for the a T f to play over loudspeakers at the next waco seige.
...how much data a beowulf cluster of these could store...
I don't understand why your flamebait hasn't gotten the attention it justly deserves.
Anyhow, kudos, and keep up the good work.
I can't believe I read that...
I saw a working Blu-Ray prototype almost exactly one year ago at last year's NAB. OK, it's a different format, but it uses a blue laser, and has pretty much the same storage capacity.
-- It only takes 20 minutes for a liberal to become a conservative thanks to our new outpatient surgical procedure!
...because AOL Version 9 is going to be about 100Gb
As much as I need coasters in my house, I'd rather one AOL disc per version over 10 or so.
I KNEW it wasn't just a Japanese accent in the Pillows song "Razorlike Blue"...
This is all very fine and dandy, but it will be expensive as hell and almost useless to "the rest of us" if the cartridges aren't standard across the different manufacturers... we all know what happens to vendor-specific standards...
:)
Note: (unless it's a $40bil megalomaniacal company
On behalf of the Rainbow Coalition, I would like to congratulate the technical community on the acceptance of blue lasers in DVD technology. For generations, blue and other wavelengths of color have tried to break into the technological field, especially in rapidly advancing areas such as data storage, consumer video, and gaming consoles. This is a great step towards the full integration of blue wavelengths into the national and world economies.
Remember, it's not the length of your wave, it's the motion of your amplitude.
144l. ph34r my 133t l3g4l 5k1lz!
While I am much happier with the video and audio quality of DVDs and now rarely rent VHS, I can say in one year of renting DVDs, I believe I have rented as many (if not more) defective DVDs than I ever have of videotapes (in 17 years).
Unfortunately, we live in a consumeristic throw-away society where defective merchandise makes more business sense so it wouldn't surprise me if the numbnuts who made the decision not to put DVDs in cartridges all got pay-raises. Bastards!
www.blu-ray.com
And what happened to those Flourescent Multilayer Discs (FMD's) that supposedly had 7 or so layers on a disc on which to store data? I heard they had a potential to store 120Gb on each disk!
-- Fuck Beta
Truly inspired filth!
I don't understand why your flamebait hasn't gotten the attention it justly deserves.
This is Troll Library quality stuff, at least for the next couple of months.
Because I had to
Dataplay discs used DRM. You can get 512MB CF and SD cards that don't require you to burn another disc everytime you want to add a song or change a playlist.
Ah yes, this brings a whole new meaning to "working blue".
Try making a similar joke about fascism.
The Raven
And the Smurfs were Communists.
Sunlit World Scheme. Weird and different.
So it's all the different colors that lets those UFOs fly I guess
Consider that one reason for using the blue laser is the optical characteristics. Also note that Plasmon's unit has a 0.7 numerical aperature lens to focus the beam.
Makes me wonder. How much higher density could be achieved with a blue laser and a lens made from left-handed (neg refractive index) material?
Order of magnitude (300GB)?
Sony either has already released or will release (in the VERY near future, as in weeks or days) a blu-ray optical disc video recorder in Japan. Price is going to be about $4000 for the recorder, and $25 each for the media, but it's the first one, so of course it will be expensive.
Creating the laser's wavelength has been discussed elsewhere in this thread, but remember that semiconductor blue lasers have only just recently been long-lived and thermally stable enough for mass markets. (Gas lasers like HeCad and Argon Ion have been used for decades now.) The problem domain shifts when you get to UV. Standard (read cheap) materials used in optics don't focus UV light well, they absorb them. You need a lens, beam splitter, 4 quadrant photodetector, etc. to consider. Electron beam stuff is cool, but handling it is vastly different... you use magnetic fields instead of optics. Then there's the necessary vacuum... making stuff with e-beams is way more difficult.
How many seconds are there in a year? If I tell you there are
3.155 x 10^7, you won't even try to remember it. On the other hand,
who could forget that, to within half a percent, pi seconds is a
nanocentury.
-- Tom Duff, Bell Labs
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