Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×

Sony, Panasonic Propose Archival Disc

Tokyo — Sony and Panasonic revealed the specifications for a new disc-based long-term Archival Disc format that will store between 300GB and 1TB of data per disc.

The system is said to be more resistant to dust, shock, extreme temperatures and moisture than typical hard disk drives, and will offer “inter-generational compatibility” between different formats and the format evolves.

According to a product roadmap issued by both companies, the first 300GB Archival Discs are due to arrive by summer 2015, with increasing storage upgrades scheduled to follow.

“Recognizing that optical discs will need to accommodate much larger volumes of storage going forward, particularly given the anticipated future growth in the archive market, Sony and Panasonic have been engaged in the joint development of a standard for professional-use next-generation optical discs,” according to a statement announcing the format.

The companies said that the format was proposed as “demand for archival capabilities has increased significantly in the film industry, as well as in Cloud data centers that handle big data, where advances in network services have caused data volumes to soar.”

The two companies collaborated on the formats in the past, including (with others) in the development of the Blu-ray Disc standard.

“The two companies plan to actively promote this next-generation high-capacity optical disc standard in the professional field in order to offer an effective solution for protecting valuable data into the future,” the statement said.

Key Archival Disc specifications are as follows:

Type 1 capacity: 300GB (write-once)

Optical parameter Wavelength: λ=405 nm (nanometers)

Numerical Aperture: NA=0.85

Disc structure: Double-sided Disc (3 layers/side), Land and Groove Format

Track pitch:  0.225μm (micrometers)

Data bit length: 79.5nm (nanometers)

Error correction method: Reed-Solomon Code.

Featured

Close