Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD recording speeds to jump to 6x

Sharp and Sanyo Electric have unveiled high-power blue-laser pick-up heads (PUHs) enabling 6x writing onto a single-sided double-layer (DL) disc for both the Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD DVD standards, with volume production to begin in May and the third quarter of this year respectively, according to leading Taiwanese makers of optical disc drives.

The 6x DL writing speed, in terms of physical properties, is due to the high optical output power from blue laser diodes of such PUHs, which reach 210mW (milliwatt) for Sharp and 200mW for Sanyo, the sources explained. Existing BD or HD DVD burners, with 130-150mW PUHs, are able to write at speeds of up to 2.4x, the sources said in comparison. For burning a 90-minute movie for example, existing 1-2.4x BD or HD DVD burners take 30-45 minutes whereas 6x models will spend 10-15 minutes only, the sources indicated.

Sharp plans to increase its monthly production capacity of 210mW PUHs from 250,000 heads in May to 500,000 units in the third quarter of this year, and the company is developing PUHs of higher output power to support 8-10x writing speeds with production to begin in 2008, the sources noted.

In addition to Sharp and Sanyo, Japan-based Nichia has introduced its 320mW PUHs for 10x writing and it plans to start production next year, the sources pointed out.

With the upcoming availability of high-power PUHs, volume production of 6x BD or HD DVD DL burners is expected to mostly begin around the end of this year and, either BD or HD DVD or both standards stand a good chance of taking off in 2008, the sources indicated.

Source