Researchers Create A 'Super DVD' Disc

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Researchers Create A 'Super DVD' Disc

Chinese developers have invented a DVD disk that can hold 220,000 movies, an incredible amount of content

Optical discs that can store up to 200 TB of data could be possible with a new technology developed in China. If commercialized, it could revive optical media as an alternative to hard disk or tape for cost-effective long-term storage.

Researchers at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, say they have demonstrated that optical storage is possible up to the petabit level by using hundreds of layers, while also claiming to have broken the optical diffraction barrier limiting how close together recorded features can be.

The production of such media is possible on standard equipment, and the production time of one copy is only 6 minutes. While it's unlikely that such drives will be available in retail stores, they could revolutionize the way data centres store data.

Why are DVDs disappearing?
The technological advancement comes at a time when retailers are scaling back their physical media offerings. Earlier this year, Best Buy started removing their physical media sections from stores entirely.

"To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago," a spokesperson for the retailer said at the time. "Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy."

Late last year, Netflix even sundown its mail-order DVD service, the product responsible for the service's popularity at launch. It was Netflix's subscription service, after all, that many attribute as the reasoning behind the downfall of Blockbuster and other home media stores.