[LIS-Forum] Data to be stored on paper disc!

[Mailing List Manager]

Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 17:45:46 +0100 (BST)
From: "[iso-8859-1] Prof. N. Laxman Rao." <naglaxman at yahoo.com>

Sony has developed Blu-ray Disc technology-based 25GB paper disc, along
with Toppan Printing Co., aiming to produce low cost discs.

Friday, April 16, 2004

NEW DELHI: Sony Corporation has announced that it has successfully
developed a 25GB paper disc based on Blu-ray Disc technology. The paper
discs, which marks a new phase in the Blu-ray disc technology, has been
developed jointly by Sony and Toppan Printing Co Ltd.

According to a Sony press release, the two companies have been working on
for about a year on printing data onto Blu-ray discs made mostly of paper.
The companies are aiming to produce lower-cost discs and expand the use of
the technology.
The discs will be able to store more than two hours of high-definition
video. The companies plan to share more details about the new product at
the Optical Data Storage conference beginning April 18, 2004 at Monterey,
California.

The Blu-ray Disc format uses blue laser light and is considered a
successor to today's red-laser DVD drives. The discs that can store more
than five times the capacity of current DVDs was introduced last year in
Japan by Sony. The company is part of a group called the Blu-ray Disc
Founders that promote the format.

Talking about the paper discs, Toppan’s MD and head of corporate R&D
division, Hideaki Kawai claimed that the use of printing technology on
paper allows high level of artistic label printing on the optical disc,
besides adding a level of security in some cases. "Since a paper disc can
be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when
disposing off the disc," he said.

Sony claimed that the two companies were able to develop the paper discs
by exploiting the fact that the Blu-ray Disc did not require laser light
to travel through the substrate. Sony Corporation senior general manager
of optical system development group Masanobu Yamamoto further said that it
was also possible to decrease the amount of raw material used per unit of
information by increasing the capacity of the disc.

The worldwide production of optical discs is approximately 20 billion per
year and optical discs are being adopted widely. The combination of paper
material and printing technology is also expected to lead to a reduction
in cost per disc and will expand usage. The Sony press release also said
that the company would continue to work with Toppan towards developing the
disc for practical usage.

CyberMedia News

=====
Prof.N.LAXMAN RAO,
Dept.of Library & Information Science,
Osmania University, HYDERABAD- 500 007 (INDIA)
President, Indian Association of Teachers in Library and Information Science (IATLIS).
Ph:+91-40-27171565 (res): +91-40- 27682290 (off) 040-56547599 (Mobile)
e:mail--  naglaxman at yahoo.com    OR   naglaxman at indiatimes.com



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