Sony Shrinks Blu-Ray Laser

A partnership with a techonology chemical and laser company has yielded a lighter, more effective Blu-Ray laser.

Sony and Nichia Corporation, a Japanese specialist in the chemicals that produces the blue laser used in Blu-Ray DVD players, have developed a smaller, cheaper Blu-Ray laser reader for use in its laptop drives later this year.

At 3 mm thick, the reader/writer will soon be mass produced, potentially leading to savings for Sony if it replaces the Playstation 3’s current laser. The Nichia unit can also read from dual-sided Blu-Ray discs and DVDs with organic dye on the recording layers. Despite this new innovation, Sony has not announced any plans to add this to the PlayStation 3’s specs or how much it could potentially save.