500Gb in one DVD

European researchers (in a consortium including partners from Germany, Hungary and Italy) have managed to work out how to store 500GB of data on a regular HD DVD or Blu-ray disc.

The Microholas project developed a micro-holographic recording technique, using nano-structures inside the disk rather than on the surface as in conventional optical storage systems. This allowed for an increase of the storage capacity far beyond the limits of today's red-laser DVDs and next-generation blue-laser discs.

A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can hold 25GB. A dual-layer disc holds double this amount. Single- and dual-layer HD DVDs hold 15GB and 30GB of data, respectively. The 500GB prototype has 50 data-storage layers.

Source: The Register