With Blu-ray and HD DVD already on the market, as expected, companies are now trying to develop the next generation formats to these. One of these, Mempile, a company based in Israel has developed its next-generation read/write optical disc format, the TeraDisc, which will be able to store up to a theoretical maximum of 5TB of data using 200 layers, going by this Broadcast Newsroom report. Unlike some very high capacity formats that are specifically targeted at enterprise storage and archival, this company's goal is to target the consumer market as an archival medium, with enterprise storage being their secondary goal.
As the content providers are just starting to get use to the recently launched Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, never mind the format war, the TeraDisc will unlikely be used for pre-recorded video applications, as the company mentions that both current HD Blue laser formats seem to be adequate for HD distribution. The initial drives and media are expected to start off quite high and will be targeted at businesses, with drives likely to be around $2,000 to $3,000. These should eventually fall to the pricing of the HD DVD and Blu-ray drives and media, but with the advantage of 10 times more capacity. The initial discs will feature capacities of 500GB to 600GB, with thicker discs up to a maximum capacity of 5TB.
So far, the target pricing information has not been disclosed, however the company did mention that the discs will become very affordable, with the discs being cheap to produce. The company is working with the Japanese optical disc producer Memory Tech to consider techniques on how to mass produce the media. They have demonstrated the ability to write to a 100 layer disc that was half the physical size of a DVD and mention that they are 18 months away from developing a 200 layer prototype.
According to Dealerscope, Mempile will release a 500GB product in 12 to 18 months, with a terabyte product around a year later. It will be sold as a standalone storage system, intended for archival of downloaded movies, DVD content, photos and other data. The company plans to partner with several electronics companies, beginning with computer manufacturers.
