16 Layers

The new Pioneer technology has 16 layers on a conventional 12-centimeter optical disc, and is currently a play-only version. The company has indicated that a writable version is being developed.

Pioneer’s announcement said “it is possible to maintain compatibility” between the new, very high-density Blu-ray format and existing players. However, the company indicated that some kind of modification may be necessary, either in the production of the discs or in the players.

The key to making such storage possible, Pioneer said, is reducing interference between adjacent layers, as its prototype does.

A formal announcement of the 400GB technology is expected at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage, which begins Sunday in Hawaii. Industry observers anticipate that Pioneer will not commercially produce the discs, but will work with manufacturers. TDK has also announced a high-capacity disc, with six layers and a 150GB capacity.

In a separate announcement, Pioneer said it will start selling Blu-ray recorders in Japan before next March.

The recorders, to be sold under the Pioneer brand, will be made with Sharp Electronics. Sharp, Sony and Matsushita control virtually the entire Blu-ray market in Japan. Matsushita makes Panasonic products. No plans for sales of the recorder in the U.S. or elsewhere were announced.

‘Not Earth-Shattering’

Josh Martin, an analyst with industry research firm Yankee Group, said the new, high-capacity disc is “interesting, but not earth-shattering.” He said the last time he checked, it was not much cheaper to produce a Blu-ray disc with, say, three times the capacity of a single disc, than to produce three discs.

And then there’s the matter of value for the average consumer. Martin said “there is value to a consumer in having multiple discs for, say, a $100 set.” He added that a single disc with the same amount of movies, at the same price, doesn’t have the same perceived value. But, Martin noted, a high-capacity recordable Blu-ray disc might have value in some businesses.

In general, he said Blu-ray player and disc sales appear to be picking up momentum, but there probably won’t be any significant sales until closer to the holiday season. Martin noted that some retailers, such as Amazon and Wal-Mart, have reduced the price of some titles to $15 from about $25 or $30, and this could spur sales.