Ben Reid
20 Oct 2006 5:43
Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic has created a 4-layer, 100GB Blu-Ray disc that it claims will last for 100 years by using Te-O-Pd, a tellurium suboxide palladium-doped phase-change recording film. The film is said to have a high transmittance and crystallization rate which allows them to layer it on without losing data quality.
The 4x25GB discs, which are not yet in production, are capable of a 2x writing speed and said to be aimed at the long-term storage market.
Although artificial ageing acceleration tests showed that the disc is readable even after 100 years, CDs were tipped to last for ages when they were first introduced, however they turned out to have invariably short (5-10 year) lifespans.
Panasonic's lab study only tests the effects of humidity and temperature on discs over time. Outside of the perfect lab environment, when people's burning, handling, and storage of the discs are taken into consideration, the claimed "100-year durability" of the discs may seem a little far-fetched.
Source:
arstechnica