Tokyo (Japan) – Panasonic claims that it is first to have succeeded in developing 6x Blu-ray write-once media, featuring a stunning data transfer speed of 216 Mb/s, which is almost 30% faster than a 16x DVD and  almost four times quicker than a 48x CD drive.

The race to increase data reading and recording speeds on optical media has hit another milestone as Panasonic said that it will be rolling out 6X BD-R media in July. 6X translates into a data transfer rate of 6 x 36 Mb/s or a total of 216 Mb/s (27 MB/s).     

Compared to previous optical media, the media are substantially faster than 16x DVDs, which achieved 169 Mb/s (21.1 MB/s) and 48X CDs that offered a maximum transfer rate of 56 Mb/s (7 MB/s). The next speed upgrade, however, is already on the horizon. Researchers are looking for ways to enable optical discs at up to 15,000 rpm (current discs support a maximum of 10,000 rpm) and data transfer rates of up to 250 Mb/s.

There are no changes in terms of capacity: The 6x Media will be offered in 25 GB and 50 GB versions. However, Panasonic limits the availability of these media initially to Japan and said that it plans to commercialize 6x media in Japan by the end of September 2008.

Until the price comes down

Jun 20, 2008 12:57     

Nobody should care. I see this technology will go by the way side like RAMBUS. Cool and fast but too expensive. DIE BLU-RAY!
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confusion?

Jun 20, 2008 16:13     

"Panasonic said that it will be rolling out 6X BD-R media in July" "..it plans to commercialize 6x media in Japan by the end of September 2008" Well, which is it? July or September?
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someone must hate Blu-Ray

Jul 03, 2008 15:08     

u must really hate blu-ray. Look, blu-ray is better than DVD, resolution wise. And in movies, games, and tech these days it is all about higher resolutions. If you don't like Blu-Ray, then don't buy it. I never liked the Gamecube so I didn't buy it. Enough with the arguing over forums. If you want to make a stand, make it with your money. This 6x reading though will help blu-ray alot, but it still needs to hit the 8x mark while prices drop significantly (to around 150) for blu-ray to overtake DVDs. Disc prices don't really matter, Amazon has tons of fairly cheap blu-ray discs. But its the players that need to drop, and with the Chinese starting to make them now prices might just hit 200 dollars this Christmas.

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