The technology is also backwards-compatible with the Blu-ray technology, Pioneer said, as the objective lens optical specifications are the same as used by the lenses in BD drives.

Each disc contains 16 layers of 25 Gbytes each, Pioneer said. For now, the disc is read-only. Pioneer solved these problems by, among other things, using a disc structure that can reduce crosstalk from adjacent layers, resulting in a 16-layer optical disc that can play back high-quality signals from every layer, the company said in a statement Monday.

Pioneer will present the details of this research at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008 (ISOM/ODS2008) to be held in Hawaii from July 13, the company said.