Pioneer, MKM Co-develop Blu-ray Recordable Media on the Heels of HD-DVD
Pioneer and Mitsubishi Chemicals announced today that they jointly managed to lower manufacturing cost of Blu-Ray Recordable discs (BD-R), by using
the spin coating manufacturing technology.
There are two approaches in the area of cover-layer technology. Both film bonding and spin coating can be used to apply the 0.1mm cover-layer used in Blu-ray Disc. Today, Pioneer and Mitsubishi announced that by choosing the spin coating technology, in order to apply the organic dye material to the disc, the manufacturing cost is reduced to one-ninth, compared to the previous techniques. Spin coating technology is already widely applicable in the DVD-R manufacturing plants.
The BD media also use an organic pigment spin-coated onto the recording layer. The organic pigment for BD, however, is different from that for HD-DVD. MKM upgraded an azo pigment used in its CD-Rs and DVD-Rs to apply it to BDs. On the other hand, MKM newly developed the organic pigment used in HD-DVDs. The new recordable BD is a single-sided, single-layer medium of 25 GB. A 1.1 mm-thick disc substrate is coated with a reflective film at first, spin-coated with the organic pigment and bonded to a 0.1 mm-thick transparent sheet for surface protection. When actually recording marks for assessment, the jitter (the variability over time of the latency) in replay signals was 6.0%. When recording, optical output of the coated surface is 5.9 mW and power margins are 10% both ways.
Pioneer claims that the spin coating technology can be easily implemented by disc manufacturers and does not require large scale investments.
This announcement comes just one day after the one made by Hitachi-Maxell, regarding the development of the HD-DVD recordable disc.
The companies are planning to report details at the ISOM/ODS '05 international symposium on optical memory to be held in Hawaii, US, from July 10 to 14, 2005.
The BD media also use an organic pigment spin-coated onto the recording layer. The organic pigment for BD, however, is different from that for HD-DVD. MKM upgraded an azo pigment used in its CD-Rs and DVD-Rs to apply it to BDs. On the other hand, MKM newly developed the organic pigment used in HD-DVDs. The new recordable BD is a single-sided, single-layer medium of 25 GB. A 1.1 mm-thick disc substrate is coated with a reflective film at first, spin-coated with the organic pigment and bonded to a 0.1 mm-thick transparent sheet for surface protection. When actually recording marks for assessment, the jitter (the variability over time of the latency) in replay signals was 6.0%. When recording, optical output of the coated surface is 5.9 mW and power margins are 10% both ways.
Pioneer claims that the spin coating technology can be easily implemented by disc manufacturers and does not require large scale investments.
This announcement comes just one day after the one made by Hitachi-Maxell, regarding the development of the HD-DVD recordable disc.
The companies are planning to report details at the ISOM/ODS '05 international symposium on optical memory to be held in Hawaii, US, from July 10 to 14, 2005.
