67GB Blu-ray discs on the horizon

Panasonic and Sony on Friday were revealed to have made a technology that could provide a third more space on a Blu-ray disc than existing technology. An evaluation technique known as i-MLSE (Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation) would better judge the optical quality when reading and writing discs, letting Blu-ray burners and readers work at up to a higher limit. The companies estimate that they could already produce 33.4GB per layer versus 25GB today and could result in a 66.8GB dual-layer disc.

Unlike some advanced Blu-ray developments, the new approach is primarily dependent on software and wouldn't need new lasers or settings to record the extra capacity, according to Tech-On. Some companies may need to upgrade the processing hardware inside their drives as the advanced correction needs extra performance to be handled in real time.

Sony is particularly hopeful that i-MLSE becomes a widespread standard and is likely to propose it to the Blu-ray Disc Association as part of the spec. The move would give Association members like Apple, Dell, LG and Samsung a new option for data backups and longer-running movies.