1 Minute DVD Burning

DVD guru Flash has contacted us excitedly with some very interesting news. Flash says, "I have just been advised of a new DVD writable format being developed that will produce a DVD in a matter of seconds. It works using a similar principal to the the one used in the production of commercially pressed DVDs. The drive is compatible with both + & - DVD writable media but the way it operates is completely different from the way we currently know. The whole of the burn is done in one step and the actual burn takes about 10 seconds from start to finish.

The drive consists of a memory pad the same shape and size as a DVD disc and this is covered in millions of tiny lasers which transfer the data to the DVD blank.

The operation is quite unique in that the whole of disc image is loaded into the drive's memory pad prior to burning. This pad has the capacity of 4.7 gigs: the same as a single layer DVD disc. The loading time only takes a few minutes depending on how fast your hard drive is.

Once the image is loaded onto this pad the blank is inserted and the burn operation is then selected. The pad already has the data stored on it in a circular spiral format (the same as would be with a normal DVD) but the data is stored in a mirror format of the actual disc. This pad is pressed up to the DVD and after focus and calibration the lasers commence their burn in batches in a spiralling sequence switched on and off at very high rate.

Once the burn starts these millions of lasers on the pad burn almost instantly onto the disc taking about 10 seconds to do the actual burn. This is done without the disc rotating in the drive. After a cooling down period of about 10-15 seconds the finished disc is ejected. The expected times can vary from disc to disc but the overall burn process will be less than 1 minute and then the burn can be repeated in super quick time.

This drive is expected to be compatible with DVD+R and DVD-R formats and no special media is needed. It is not yet certain as to whether Dual Layer (DL) can be incorporated in this but it seems most likely. It is likely that the second layer can be burnt after the first by readjusting the focus on the lasers.

These burners will only write to the media and do not incorporate the circuitry or laser assembly to be able to read the media. This is a small price to pay for high speed burning.

Power consumption is said to be minimal but peaking at 100 watts during the 10 seconds burning process so a good stable power supply will be needed.

The current prototypes are full 5 ¼ bay format and will take up two standard PC drive bays but this is expected to be reduced to the ½ height format as the development progresses.

Conclusion
This is a truly remarkable breakthrough in DVD burning technology and I have my name down for testing the first prototypes that are released. I just wonder how the discs will stand up to the temperatures involved in the process."

For more about this story contact Flash: flash@dvd-recordble.net.