Sony and Panasonic have teamed up to produce a next-generation optical disc capable of holding 300GB of data.
The Archival Disc, originally unveiled last year, is a new standard for professional storage, touting not only high capacities, but additional enhancements like dust-resistance, water-resistance, and the ability to withstand temperature and humidity fluctuations.
The write-once discs are double-sided, with three layers per side. They come with Reed-Solomon Code error correction.
The two companies plan to use their joint experience working on the Blu-ray Disc format to deliver another popular storage choice for the professional market.
Thinking long-term
As the name might imply, the Archival Discs are designed for long-term use. Sony and Panasonic promise inter-generational compatibility between different formats to ensure data can still be read as formats change.
The duo also outlined a roadmap for how they expect things to pan out for the Archival Disc in the coming years.
The plan is to start with 300GB and narrow track pitch signal processing technology, before moving to 500GB and high linear density with inter symbol interference cancellation technology, before finally hitting 1TB with multi level recording technology.
The aim is to launch the 300GB version in summer 2015.
