Production of new generation information carriers has been launched in Saint Petersburg. The brand new development called “thin disc” has been patented by well-known Saint Petersburg’s music producer and sound director Andrei Tropillo. The know-how holders claim their invention will be able to protect authors from illegal copying of their creations. Mass production of thin discs was started in July by “Fortmedia” plant. Technology authors describe their invention as an information carrier of new generation VCDHD (Versatile compact disc high density) – a thin one-layer originally shaped disc of high flexibility. VCDHD is 0.6 mm thin – (while) an ordinary compact disc is twice as thick. The new carrier can be easily folded and strained without any risk to damage the information on it. Moreover, its edge’s original shape has extra protection against scratching and mechanical damage.

Disc’s high flexibility makes it extremely convenient for being stored in magazines and envelopes. “It can even be folded into a tube”, says one of the technology owners. Information capacity of VCDHD can be compared to that of a DVD – 4.7 Gb. The “thin” invention can be played on any types of DVD-recorders, unlike any previous attempts to develop such discs. The “thin disc” was invented by well-known Saint Petersburg’s music producer and sound director Andrei Tropillo. The author says that he was trying to create something simple and flexible that could be deformed without any damage to carried information. He suddenly remembered about old plastic discs that were going together with Soviet magazines as a bonus. This was how the disc having advantages of plastic information carriers but lacking their drawbacks, appeared. VCDHD resists strokes, falling and any kind of deformation – it has a special coating preventing it from any cracks.

The plant for VCDHD production appeared in Saint Petersburg as far back as in 2004. Since that time the unit has been tested and upgraded for maximum effect. First, the unit was launched in Ukraine, then in Russia.

The “Fortmedia” plant has upgraded one of its CD-production lines for VCDHD format. New discs are produced in enormous amount, thus another line will soon be upgraded for the said format. Inventors have already received a business offer from Great Britain – Englishmen are longing for 200 million of new generation discs. The authors of described technology do not want to be monopolists – they have already licensed Ukraine and Poland for VCDHD production.

Manufacturers claim to have invented “an absolute protection against illegal copying”, because copying of “thin discs” requires much effort. General director of an information security company comments that when the format of an information carrier is open – this is the well-known case of CD and DVD – it is absolutely impossible to come out with a copy-protected information carrier, in other words, any company would be able to produce such carriers, as well as devices for reading and recording said carriers. If the format remains proprietary, allowing only one company on the market to produce carriers and everything for reading and recording them, such carriers won’t hit the market. The director says that his experience allowed the conclusion that total copy-protection is not necessary; copying should become of maximum possible complicacy for pirates. But the inventor objects saying that when only-VCDHD film appears on a CD, it evidently is a crime.

Anna Kizilova
 

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