M.Disc : a DVD that would age better than us?

While we rarely notice it, yet we do know normal DVDs and CDs have a limited lifetime which was estimated to about 5 years to 25 years maximum depending on various factors. What would you say if I were to tell you that you could store data on a DVD that would last more than 1,000 years? Just to be clear, I’m not crazy, and neither are the two companies working on it: LG and the younger Millenniata, through a partnership have created just that.

The actual DVD writing procedure consists of burning the organic colorant situated between the polycarbonate and the metallic layer, all this using lasers.

On the other side, the M.DISC adds another layer of synthetic material made of metal in which a compatible burner (M.READY) will burn holes at a very high temperature. This operation makes the M.DISC single use only.

Now you’ll ask how can this lifetime be guaranteed, well that’s a rather complicated process, but to make it simple, when a DVD wears down with time, it’s due to the oxidation of the material, so Millenniata measured the amount of oxidation the M.DISC got over a certain period of time and then calculated the amount of time it would need to corrode before being un-readable.

No storage has been announced, but the M.DISC would be able to contain 100,000 documents, 3 hours of videos or 1,200 photos, in addition this new M.DISC would also be compatible with actual DVD and Blu-ray readers. No price has been given, although the compatible burner is already available in pre-order.

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