Hitachi develops DVD which can store up to 200 movies

TOKYO (AFP) May 16, 2003
Japanese electronics giant Hitachi said Friday it had developed technology to make DVDs with storage capacity for 200 movies and aimed to commercialize the technology in 2007.

The firm developed the cutting-edge technology with Hitachi Maxell Ltd., a subsidiary specialising in audio and video tapes.

"We expect demand for a DVD with a bigger capacity and hope to market the product globally in the near future," said Hitachi Ltd. spokesman Takeshi Kawakami.

The latest technology involves stacking multiple data-storing layers to ensure accurate reading and writing of a vast amount of data that can run up to 400 hours.

Expanding DVD storage capacity requires increasing the number of layers used in a DVD. Conventional technologies so far allow up to two layers in a DVD while Hitachi's technology allows multiple layers.

SPACE.WIRE