Sony and Toppan Printing develop paper Blu-ray Disc

April 15, 2004

The British website Digitmag.co.uk reports that
Sony has developed a paper Blu-ray disc. The discs are developed together with
the Japanese printing company Toppan Printing and the development aims to make
Blu-ray discs more environment friendly.

Not only does it save on the
production materials, the discs also become lighter which makes them cheaper to
transport. The companies also claim other advantages, such as easier data
shredding, all you need is a pair of scissors.

In a
Blu-ray Disc the recording layer on which the data is stored lies under a
0.1mm protective layer and on top of a 1.1mm thick substrate. The
substrate, or basic surface on which a material adheres, is usually made
of a polycarbonate plastic but the new prototype disc replaces this with
paper. The result is a disc of which paper makes up approximately 51
percent of its weight, Sony.

By replacing plastic with paper the companies
hope to produce a more environmentally friendly, as well as a more secure
disc, said Taro Takamine, a spokesman for Sony in Tokyo.

"Oil is a limited resource but paper can be
recycled," he said. "One of the initial advantages of the paper disc will
be a decrease in the amount of raw material needed to produce a disc."

Mass production of the paper Blu-ray disc is still
under investigation, the companies did not disclose any date for market entrance
of the paper Blu-ray disc. More information in this article.

Source: Digitmag.co.uk