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Sony's Blue-Violet Laser the Future Blu-ray?

JoshuaInNippon writes "Japanese researchers from Sony and Tohoku University announced the development of a 'blue-violet ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser,' which Sony is aiming to use for optical disks. The new technology, with 'a laser wavelength of 405 nanometers in the blue-violet region' and a power out put 'more than a hundred times the world's highest output value for conventional blue-violet pulse semiconductor lasers,' is believed to be capable of holding more than 20 times the information of current Blu-ray technology, while retaining a practical size. Japanese news reports have speculated that one blue-violet disk could be capable of holding more than 50 high-quality movie titles, easily fitting entire seasons of popular TV shows like 24. When the technology may hit markets was not indicated."

15 of 260 comments (clear)

  1. By the time they've made this into a real product by francium+de+neobie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We'd already be walking around with 500GB USB sticks.

    Or worse, we'd be walking around with 1Gbps wireless connections and we'd be streaming HD movies from YouTube.

    So unless they've figured out how to cram like 1PB or even 1EB on an optical disc, they're walking down a blind alley.

  2. Re:By the time they've made this into a real produ by sexconker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We'd already be walking around with 500GB USB sticks.

    Or worse, we'd be walking around with 1Gbps wireless connections and we'd be streaming HD movies from YouTube.

    And the "HD" YouTube videos would still look like shit.

  3. Re:Oh no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    The world looks mighty good to me,
    'Cause goatse holes are all I see.
    Whatever it is I think I see,
    becomes a goatse hole to me
    Goatse hole how I love your anusy gue,
    Goatse hole I think I'm in love with you
    Whatever it is I think I see,
    becomes a goatse hole to me.

  4. 405 nm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to wikipedia, the light used in a bluray laser is also 405 nm, so that isn't the new part, in case that was confusing for anyone else.

  5. Re:Another new format? by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The difference in going from VHS to DVD was far more substantial than going from DVD to Blu-Ray. No more rewinding, easy seeking, a menu system. Blu-Ray does have a higher quality, but doesn't provide enough new features to warrant upgrading my entire DVD collection...especially when a decent upconverter can be purchased for relatively cheap. Some titles I have purchased for Blu-Ray, Casino Royale, and Dark Knight look gorgeous in high definition. Duck Soup and Spaceballs, however will likely stay in my collection as DVDs.

    --
    "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
  6. Re:Another new format? by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Informative

    History is easy to forget. DVD was around on the shelves for almost a decade before it hit mass consumption levels.

    No, it wasn't.

    DVD came out between late 1996 (Japan) and early 1999, depending on where you lived. Here in the UK it apparently came out in late 1998 (*), and in 3-4 years sharply falling prices were already seriously eroding the VHS market. I got a DVD-ROM drive for UK £40-45 circa 2002, and that wasn't especially cutting edge (nor expensive!) by that time.

    (*) Or so Wikipedia claims. However, I remember DVD-ROM drives and decoder cards being offered- albeit it at a notable premium- as a mainstream option when I was choosing a PC in Spring '98.

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  7. Re:Oh no. by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Funny

    In 2005 there was some story that Steve Ballmer threw a chair. Every day since then somebody has made a +5 Funny post referring to it. According to Slashdot, if Steve hits a red light while driving to work, he'll throw a chair, and the idea of that is really really really funny.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  8. Re: by Peach+Rings · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If your storage medium has to explicitly allow your content then someone is doing it terribly, terribly wrong.

  9. Re:Yet Another Format War on the Way... by clarkkent09 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Who cares. By the time this technology goes commercial, optical discs will be dead as far as selling movies, music and such goes. Maybe they'll have some other more limited uses.

    --
    Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
  10. If only by bugs2squash · · Score: 4, Funny

    50 High quality movie titles had been produced since Blu ray started shipping.

    --
    Nullius in verba
  11. Re:Oh no. by ae1294 · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to Slashdot, if Steve hits a red light while driving to work, he'll throw a chair, and the idea of that is really really really funny.

    Well... I personally think it is pretty funny that Steve Ballmer keeps a chair in the trunk of his car to throw out into traffic whenever he hits a red light but hey maybe I'm a bit odd...

  12. Re:Sorry, I'm not buying the capacity claims. by Icarus1919 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hoo brother, you have no idea how many libraries of congress this thing outputs.

  13. Re: by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Interesting

    HD DVD was an open format available to anyone who wanted to implement it. As far as content went, it was the more open of the two - you didn't need, for example, to license AACS to press a disc.

    HD DVD's failure had nothing to do with licensing, it was a straightforward case in which Hollywood picked the winner. Hollywood, as a whole, didn't like the fact HD DVD didn't require access controls (making it harder to trace pirates), and lacked snake-oil solutions like BD+. Added to the fact Sony is a studio, Blu-ray had the studio support.

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  14. Blu-ray beat by hard disks already.. by blahplusplus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... the cost of 20PK of 25GB discs (500GB) is the same as a 750GB-1GB hard disk, with 2TB hard disks going for $99. The media for blu-ray is not cost competitive with hard disks any longer they better hurry up since by the time blu-ray discs become cost competitive so hard disks no longer offer more bang for the buck there will be new Hard drives out.

  15. Re:Yet Another Format War on the Way... by sootman · · Score: 4, Funny

    An equally-large problem will be finding "50 high-quality movies" from the current crop.

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