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Data Storage

Plasmon Exhibits Working Blue Laser DVD Drive 229

Posted by CowboyNeal from the more-data-per-capita dept.
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.
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Plasmon Exhibits Working Blue Laser DVD Drive More

Plasmon Exhibits Working Blue Laser DVD Drive

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  • Soon (Score:3, Funny)

    by stanmann ( 602645 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:49PM (#5609001) Journal
    We'll see this soon... does that mean before or after Duke Nukem Forever

    • Re:Soon (Score:2, Funny)

      by old7 ( 564621 )
      After Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms but before Duke Nukem Forever.

      Old7
    • Damnit! And I just bought a DVD-burner! Now I'm stuck with lame "red-laser". ... . I am no longer l33t .....

      WAIT, I'll just make sure that I'm the first one in line for GREEN LASER, w00t! Who's with me?!

  • As a side note... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Hayzeus ( 596826 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:49PM (#5609002) Homepage
    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!

  • We can't stop with blue! (Score:5, Funny)

    by petronivs ( 633683 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:51PM (#5609012) Journal
    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!

  • Awfull read/write speed? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NorthDude ( 560769 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:51PM (#5609013)
    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?!?

    • Re:Awfull read/write speed? (Score:5, Informative)

      by axis-techno-geek ( 70545 ) <.rob. .at. .goshko.ca.> on Thursday March 27, 2003 @03:34PM (#5609391) Homepage
      This is still faster than a 24x CD-R burner (24 x 150 KB/s = 3600 KB/s = 3.52 MB/s). 4x DVD writing is 5.54 MB/S and they are in the fifth generation.

      Not as fast a tape drives for writing (you can get 22 MB/s with compression 2:1, 11 MB/s real), but the random access capabilities of this type of media would put a tape to shame.

      Their aimed at replacing MO drives, I currently don't know anybody with one of these at home, as they are still expensive (about $1500 USD). The people using these I am guessing are very interested in long-term archiving without degradation.

      Seeing how this is a first generation drive, I guess this is "1x" speed, when the get the 60GB (2nd gen) and 120GB (3rd gen) drives out, if they double this in each generation, that would give you a "4x" (16 MB/sec - equivalent to a 109x CD-R) 120GB drive, this would still take 2 hrs 8 min to fill at "4x", but a 30 GB disc would only take 32 minutes.

      • Any of the MO drives I've used (which all ancient by today's standards) had abyssmal R/W speeds. They were a godsend for archiving "big" files in their day, but only for archiving. Too slow to work off of and the drives and cart pricing were stratospheric.

      • Unless they're as flexible in write/rewrite as MO drives, then I won't be replacing mine for a while yet.

        MO is everything Iomega's Zip format wishes it was - assortment of large capacities, sturdy and reliable discs, not much bigger than a floppy.

        The thing that makes it so great is that a 2.6Gb MO drive can take el cheapo 230Mb MO discs as well as the super expensive 2.6Gb discs and all the flavours in between, so I can choose the right size media for the job.

        Now, if only more people had MO drives... Alt
  • It's vaporware.
    • Wow, those 64-bit processors must be vapourware, sine I don't have one in my computer.

      Oh, and mainframes. Don't have one of them either.

      I think it's fair to say that since the product has actually been demonstrated, that yes - they do have a product to make & sell.
    • I'm usually pretty quick to cry "vapor", but these blue-laser DVDs are already a proven concept to lots of companies in their consortium, and they have a standard for it. Unlike other vaporish storage technologies that are always too good to be true, promoted by a small unknown company, rely upon nebulous revolutions in technology, etc. -- blue ray DVDs and their ilk are on the way.

      It's a done deal, now we're just waiting to see who wins the race to get them out first.

  • Just as DVD-R approaches affordability... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Gossy ( 130782 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:52PM (#5609017)
    ..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.
    • Don't worry, in a few years you will be able to pick these up for $200 in a blue light special. Of couse by then they'll be too small to be really useful, like your CDs are now.
      • You're probably right. Then again, I wonder...

        My CDs are on average, 700mb, lets say 0.7Gb for convenience.

        I probably have about.. 300gb total capacity over all of my network. That'd take me around 430 cds to cover all of that.

        Now, if I had those 120GB disks, and we assumed that when they were affordable, they'd be as much use as my CD, I'd have approx 51600GB storage on my network!! Hmm.

        I wonder if our growth in need for hard drive capacity is leveling off, and if not - when it will. I'm in no doubt i
      • Except for the fact the K-Mart is going out of business, so there won't be any more blue-light specials.
    • "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."
      It seems that the media has to be on the order of a magnitude greater capacity than previously available before folks get excited. Get them under $1000 and there will be a huge market.
      • I find DVD-R a useful increase over CD-R. Our disc images for desktops are all too big to fit on a single CD-R, and dumps of user data have been going over this amount for a while, too.

        My most recent bootable DVD-R for imaging fits 4 platforms, Win2kSP3, Office2000 and some other bricabrac on a single disc. Archiving old user data is much easier, and they're happier to have it archived to a single media.

        30G would be a worthwhile upgrade over 4.7G as well, since its about the same jump as CDR-DVDR.
    • ...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.

  • Uses (Score:2, Funny)

    by Fascist Christ ( 586624 )

    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.

  • Sounds like a Jellyroll Morton tune... (Score:3, Funny)

    by CommieLib ( 468883 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:52PM (#5609024) Homepage
    The laser's woman done him wrong...

  • This is good news for the moral community (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:53PM (#5609025)
    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.

  • standard??? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by thadeusPawlickiROX ( 656505 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:54PM (#5609039)
    UDO is about to become the next generation standard on 5.25-inch optical drive technology, replacing the existing magneto-optical (MO) base of drives and discs of the same diameter.
    So this is about to become the standard? IMHO, there are still issues with normal DVD's with standards (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD R, etc.). I think this is a step forward, but I think all the companies manufacturing the new line of blue laser DVD burners need to agree with a standard and keep with it. The other point though... when will this "generation" be the current technology? I still think that by the time the drives and media are cost effective, you might as well buy a hard drive to store the data. Yes, I know that obsolete technology like the floppy disk is still around, but I still think that 30, or even the possible 120 gigs as seen in the article will be too small by the time the drives hit the main market at reasonable price.
    • But it's not a DVD drive. It's based on DVD blue laser tech (as stated in the article), but it's geared towards the MO market NOT the DVD+-~R market and it's certainly not aimed at consumers.
  • 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 [slashdot.org] technology and dub it "Density Optical Hybrid" (DOH!).

  • Blue Light Special!! (Score:4, Funny)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @02:59PM (#5609089) Journal
    Attention K-Mart Shoppers! Available Now!

    (you heard it here first, get used to it)

  • A single fingerprint probably covers several hundred megabytes. :)

  • Cartridges (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Sophrosyne ( 630428 )
    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!
  • I'm assuming the blank disks will cost more.

  • First prototype? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Noksagt ( 69097 )
    If there haven't been prototypes, how is Sony going to start selling them in a few weeks? [zdnet.com.au] What am I missing?

  • How resistent to dust and scratches? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by haggar ( 72771 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @03:12PM (#5609211) Homepage Journal
    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....



  • Come with a black face plate?


    That white color would look terrible in my "stealth" case .... but the blue light would match perfectly!!


  • I may be nitpicking, but... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by amalcon ( 472105 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @03:17PM (#5609245)
    "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.

  • Mini-DVD's (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Thursday March 27, 2003 @03:17PM (#5609253) Homepage
    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

  • DataPlay (Score:2, Interesting)

    by jetkust ( 596906 )
    What about dataplay [dataplay.com], 500MB in the size roughly of a quarter [imation.com]. 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.

    • Re:DataPlay (Score:2, Funny)

      by Rick.C ( 626083 )
      "What about dataplay, 500MB in the size roughly of a quarter ... I think even Britney Spears was scheduled to release an album using this technology."

      I thought she was scheduled to appear on an album cover wearing this technology.

      [rim shot]
  • The article says that the disks are double sided. Does this mean that you have to flip them as with DVD's?

    Rus
  • 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.

  • Sony [pcworld.com] 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 [avland.co.uk] is just a list of specs and pictures... Check out all those inputs!

  • KMart has been using the blue light for YEARS, and look where it got them!
  • What ever happened to FMD-ROM [slashdot.org]?

    How about Penny-sized CDs [slashdot.org]

    Or were these just another round of VC scams?


  • 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.
  • 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.
  • How long does it usually take from prototype to market on these things? I know for computers it is typically six months to a year.

    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:
  • When the Black Lite lasers finally come out we'll finally be able to store trillions of Elvis and sad dog pictures.
  • All I want is a friggin shark with a blue laserbeam on its head.
  • 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.
  • 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?
    • It is tough to find semiconductors with wide band gaps. The larger the band gap, the higher the energy photon produced by an electron moving from one band to another. Higher-frequency photons have higher energy, thus you need larger band gaps to produce blue light than red light. That is the problem, but it is slowly being solved.

      The benefit of higher-frequency photons is that they can be focused into a smaller area. The higher the frequency, the smaller the wavelength. The smaller the wavelength, the
  • The drive boasts 30GB of storage
    At about 31 million times the size of today's fastest IDE hard drive caches, that's one gigantic freakin' buffer. I wonder what the throughput on one of those babies is...
  • We've been hearing about the advantages of blue light for seemingly years now

    Okay, I'm forgetful and I'm too lazy to google. I forget--what are the advantages of the blue laser?

  • Why have DVD in article title? (Score:3, Informative)

    by nedron ( 5294 ) on Thursday March 27, 2003 @04:53PM (#5610124) Homepage
    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.
  • There are already 4 standards [dvddemystified.com] 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 [dvdsite.org]
  • 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.

  • 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

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