Researchers at the University of Berlin in Germany have developed a method of data storage that will bump Blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc storage capacity up to 500GB.

In partnership with the Budapest University of Technology and the Economics and Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Italy, the researches used a “microholographic” recording technique that interacts with nanostructures inside the disc to store data rather than writing it on the surface.

Called the Microholas project, the microholographic technique uses wavelength multiplexing techniques to create many layers multi-layer disc structures. Normally, a Blu-ray or HD DVD disc contains 25GB and 15GB respectively per layer, with a dual-layer HD DVD disc reaching 30GB.

Using Microholas, however, 500GB can be fitted into 50 layers, and according to Professor Susanna Orlic in an interview with the German site Pressetext, the technology could eventually store up to 1TB of data on a single disc.

Last month, Hitachi announced it has developed a new technology that is capable of storing up to 500GB of data onto discs that have a super-resolution film on their substrate.

A multilayed approach had been shown to work over 10 years ago by the 3D Constellation company. Its engineers have incorporated some of the technology into the current high definition versatile multilayer disc format (HD VMD) commercialised by New Medium Enterprises.

Story filed 15.07.07