Sony Develops Paper Blu-ray Disc

[Suhit Gupta]

http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=displaynews&NewsID=3951&Page=1&pagePos=1

"Sony and Toppan Printing, a large Japanese printing company, have developed a Blu-ray Disc based on a paper substrate which promises to be more environmentally friendly and secure when destroyed than traditional discs, they announced."



We have already reported on the Blu-Ray technology before - it uses blue lasers instead of the traditional red lasers found in our typical CD/DVD players. It is because they use blue lasers, and since the frequency of blue light is smaller than that of red light, that the Blu-Ray drives can write more data onto a disc in the same amount of space. "In a Blu-ray Disc the recording layer on which the data is stored lies under a 0.1mm protective layer and on top of a 1.1mm thick substrate. The substrate, or basic surface on which a material adheres, is usually made of a polycarbonate plastic but the new prototype disc replaces this with paper. The result is a disc of which paper makes up approximately 51 percent of its weight."

Estimates on cost and mass production techniques have not been investigated fully by the companies yet, however their initial claims appear to suggest that this will be viable. I only throw away about 15 or so failed CD-Rs a year, but combined with all the other people out there that do the same, and the fact that they are non-biodegradable, the amount of waste is staggering. The paper discs would be an excellent product IMHO.

[Suhit Gupta]

http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=displaynews&NewsID=3951&Page=1&pagePos=1

"Sony and Toppan Printing, a large Japanese printing company, have developed a Blu-ray Disc based on a paper substrate which promises to be more environmentally friendly and secure when destroyed than traditional discs, they announced."



We have already reported on the Blu-Ray technology before - it uses blue lasers instead of the traditional red lasers found in our typical CD/DVD players. It is because they use blue lasers, and since the frequency of blue light is smaller than that of red light, that the Blu-Ray drives can write more data onto a disc in the same amount of space. "In a Blu-ray Disc the recording layer on which the data is stored lies under a 0.1mm protective layer and on top of a 1.1mm thick substrate. The substrate, or basic surface on which a material adheres, is usually made of a polycarbonate plastic but the new prototype disc replaces this with paper. The result is a disc of which paper makes up approximately 51 percent of its weight."

Estimates on cost and mass production techniques have not been investigated fully by the companies yet, however their initial claims appear to suggest that this will be viable. I only throw away about 15 or so failed CD-Rs a year, but combined with all the other people out there that do the same, and the fact that they are non-biodegradable, the amount of waste is staggering. The paper discs would be an excellent product IMHO.

[Gary Sheynkman]

do these turn yellow and shrivel up after a certain amount of year too? :lol:

[Steve]

Well, that doesn't save the fact that paper is still bad for the environment. It is better than plastic, though. Not by too much... I hope people realize that recycled paper is bad news some day, because media and recycling plants make it out to be really great. Kind of like credit cards, or driving SUV's in cities. They're all the bad crowd in disguise... Kind of like a druggy wearing a smiley face paper sack.

Or not really... That is good to hear in the long run though.

[pradike]

Can you say BETAMAX !

Another great idea from Sony - only baloney!

Heck, the blue laser isn't even accepted as the defacto standard for HD DVD goig forward...these paper frisbies will be a joke.

[Andy Manea]

Originally Posted by Steve

Well, that doesn't save the fact that paper is still bad for the environment. It is better than plastic, though. Not by too much... I hope people realize that recycled paper is bad news some day, because media and recycling plants make it out to be really great. Kind of like credit cards, or driving SUV's in cities. They're all the bad crowd in disguise... Kind of like a druggy wearing a smiley face paper sack.

Or not really... That is good to hear in the long run though.

I was thinking the same thing, paper comes from trees, and some day there won't be many left on this planet. :cry:

But why would people realize that RECYCLED paper is bad news?!?!? And why are credit cards bad (other than people spending more than they can aford)?!?

Sanyo is making CDs out of corn. That sounds like a cool environmental friendly alternative, since obviously corn grows faster than trees. On the other hand, thousands of people are starving every day because they have nothing to eat. uppydogeyes:

Sanyo's MildDisc, which launched in early April, is made from polyactic acid derived from corn kernels. Although the disc is currently only available as a CD, Sanyo said it is working on a recordable version.

This method, which has been researched over the past few years by Sanyo, has been developed to replace the polycarbonate used in most discs today. Polycarbonate discs need intense heat to incinerate them, and the chemicals released during this process contribute to air pollution. In addition, they are not biodegradable.

Sanyo's MildDisc can be broken down into water and carbon dioxide by microorganisms in the ground, according to Sanyo. The company says that no harmful dioxins are released during incineration, which can be achieved at much lower temperatures than for polycarbonate discs.

One ear of corn can produce ten discs, according to Sanyo. The MildDisc currently costs about three times as much as traditional CDs and is only available in bulk to trade.

LINK

[foldedspace]

Since trees and corn are cash crops, it doesn't make much sense that companies would eliminate them. Kind of like killing the golden goose. What you do end up with is a lack of diversity in forests that are logged, because they replant only trees that produce the end products they want.

I'd be hesitant to trust a paper based disc, depending on how durable they are. I take pretty good care of the CD's and DVD's I make, but they still get scratched and ruined after a certain amount of time.

[David Horn]

But think about it -this is ideal for renting movies and so on. I mean, they could even make it flavoured and you could eat a movie after watching it.

Adds a whole new meaning to digesting content...

[foldedspace]

A friend of mine in college noticed the packing peanuts that came with a package he received were made of bio-degradable foodstuff based products. So he ate them. I watched him pop them in his mouth like popcorn while he exclaimed 'It just melts in my mouth!'

Needless to say, whatever binder they used in the formula *wasn't* edible, so it all came back up over the next few hours. He told me it came out like 'sand'. I took his word for it...

[rubberdemon]

Well, that's the last time I eat packing peanuts...

Seriously, though - just because there's paper in these, doesn't mean they're biodegradable - obviously there's a plastic layer fused to the paper portion so there is somewhere to put the data - as well as a thin metallic layer. I wonder if anyone recycles CDs/DVDs in general?

[Andy Manea]

CAN you recycle CDs and DVDs?!?!