Blu-ray Dimensions

Offering unprecedented storage capacity, fast transfers and high reliability, “Professional Disc for DATA” is the obvious choice for a wide range of mission-critical applications, from storing X-ray images and financial records to archiving email and official documents.

In addition to compatibility with the major operating systems - Microsoft® Windows®, Macintosh, and Linux “Professional Disc for DATA” will be supported by major backup and archiving software.

By reducing the wavelength of laser light, from red to violet, it is possible to make a narrower “beam spot”, thus enabling higher recording densities. “Professional Disc for DATA” employs a blue laser with a wavelength of just 405nm, enabling a data density some 2.6 times that of the red laser technology used for conventional optical media. Moreover, the powerful objective lens (used for focusing the laser beam) has a numerical aperture of 0.85 - greater than that used for DVDs (NA: 0.6) and MO discs (NA: 0.575). The resulting narrow beam further doubles recording density. As a result, track pitch is just 0.32µm, making it possible to record as much as 23GB on one side of a disc.

Compared to MO and DVD-RW, today’s mainstream formats for optical storage, “Professional Disc for DATA” offers a quantum leap in performance. Capacity is approximately 3 times that of MO and 5 times that of DVD-RW, maximum write speed is 2 times that of DVD-RW (4x) and 1.5 times that of MO. This performance advantage translates into new potential for a wide range of applications.

Internal Optical Disc Drive BW-F101

The BW-F101 is connected via a Ultra 160 LVD/SE SCSI internal connection and offers up to 23.3GBs storage. With a substained write speed of 9MB/s (CLV),4.5-9MB/s (CAV), a burst rate of 160 MB/s (synchronous) (max), and a substained read speed of 11 MB/s (CLV), 4.5 - 11 MB/s (CAV) the Sony BW-F101 can meet a wide range of storage needs.

Some of the unique features of the BW-101 include:

• Dustproof design:
  drive has been designed to be completely airtight; dust is prevented from entering the case via either the mounting screw holes or the space between the top and bottom covers. The main entry point for dust is the shutter, but a dual-shutter mechanism has been adopted to ensure an airtight enclosure even with the media inside the drive. In addition, this drive is maintenance-free: an internal brush mechanism ensures periodic, automatic cleaning of the pickup lens to achieve the highest level of reliability.
• Automatic CAV/CLV selection:
  “Professional Disc for DATA” drives support both CAV (constant angular velocity) and CLV (constant linear velocity) transfer modes when reading and writing data. In CAV mode the disc rotates at a constant speed, meaning that the transfer rate slows as the pickup approaches the center of the disc, but seek operations are fast (110ms average). In CLV mode the speed of the pickup is constant, so although seek operations take longer, the maximum transfer rate of 11MB/s is maintained at all times. The drive firmware automatically selects the Optimum mode to ensure the best overall performance. For example, if accessing a series of relatively small text files, CAV is used for fast seek times, but when reading large music or video files, CLV is employed to ensure the maximum transfer rate. The factory setting ensures that the drive automatically selects the optimum transfer mode. But if necessary the user can select the transfer mode: DIP switches allow selection of either CAV or Optimum mode, while any one of the three modes (CAV, CLV or Optimum) can be specified by a mode select command.*
• High-capacity cache:
  The drive is equipped with a 16MB cache, much larger than the 2MB cache of DVD-RW drives or even the 8MB cache of MO drives. This effectively reduces the load on the CPU when writing to disc, and improves performance when accessing data thanks to its enhanced capacity to read ahead. Error recovery is also improved: the large cache minimizes any impact on performance.
• Low power consumption:
  When there is no disc access for a certain length of time, the drive starts shutting down components and circuits to save power. This follows a phased schedule (see table) that parks the optical pickup (OP), engages idle mode, cuts spindle power and eventually switches off the cooling fan. Power consumption is cut by approximately 50%, but there is more to it than that: in fan-off mode the drive produces less heat and attracts less dust since there are no moving parts. The duration of each phase in the sleep sequence can be adjusted using mode select commands to tailor performance for different applications.

External Optical Disc Drive BW-U101 (USB 2.0) and BW-S101 (SCSI)

To meet the diverse needs of customers, Sony offers two external drive models: SCSI and USB. To achieve high transfer rates the SCSI model has an Ultra 160 LVD/SE SCSI interface, while the USB model has a USB 2.0 interface.

Optical Disc Auto Changer

With capacities ranging up to 1.56TB, these compact auto changers enable consolidated management of vast quantities of data. Equipped with “Professional Disc for DATA” drives (1, 2 or 4 in standard configurations) and an advanced picker mechanism, they can accommodate a maximum of 67 discs. Auto changers are the best choice for building an archive system that must provide both high capacity and fast access.

Professional Disc For Data Optical Media

Two types of single-sided media are available, rewritable and write-once, both offering 23GB of storage capacity. Rewritable media allows data to be rewritten and overwritten repeatedly. Write-once media cannot be reformatted and does not allow data to be overwritten, making it ideal for long-term archiving; as long as there is space available, data can always be added but never altered or deleted. The antistatic cartridge is designed to withstand both heat and shock. Furthermore, the robust cartridge has a revolving shutter mechanism to prevent the entry of dust. As a result both types offer a data integrity rating of more than 50 years. Furthermore, designated hard case that made of propylene resin can protect media firmly. Not to mention shock resistance, it is designed to see the cartridge label even from outside of the case.

Click on this link to learn about Blu-ray technology: Blu-ray technology. A different format for consumer based products.