Pioneer is developing a new media based on the Blu-ray standard, which offers 256 GB of unformatted capacity. The capacity is achieved by recording data in a staggering eight layers, double that of Blu-ray XL, which relies on four layers to achieve 100 GB of capacity. Pioneer claims it has even made strides towards an even newer Blu-ray media that could, in the near future, offer 512 GB of unformatted capacity. The 256 GB Blu-ray disc could prove useful for making large data backups, or even imaging your SSD. Pioneer isn't the only player in the high-capacity optical disc game.
Sony and Panasonic collaborated to announce ArchivalDisc, an optical disc that offers 300 GB of capacity, except that it doesn't stick to the Blu-ray standard, and you'll need specially made disc-drives to use them. Since Pioneer's disc builds on the existing Blu-ray standard, it will be cheaper for optical drive makers to adopt it.
