General Electric promises 500GB holographic disc

The new holographic discs will hold as much data as 100 standard DVDs

General Electric (GE) has unveiled a new storage method which it claims will allow for 500GB of storage space on a single compact disc.

The "micro-holographic storage" technology squeezes far more space into standard DVD-sized discs by making use of 3D patterns to utilise a much larger area of the disc material.

GE estimates that the holographic discs will be able to hold as much data as 20 Blu-ray discs or 100 standard DVDs. The read/write mechanisms would be similar in size and function to standard DVD/Blu-ray players, and could support these legacy formats.

The company hopes that it can eventually squeeze a full terabyte onto a single disc. While no release date has been given, GE hopes to bring the technology into enterprise storage systems and eventually consumer devices.

"GE's breakthrough is a huge step towards bringing our next-generation holographic storage technology to the everyday consumer," said GE holographic storage programme head Brian Lawrence.

"Because GE's micro-holographic discs could essentially be read and played using similar optics to those found in standard Blu-ray players, our technology will pave the way for cost-effective, robust and reliable holographic drives that could be in every home."