A team of Japanese researchers have discovered a way to store 42 GB of data on one disc. Well, at least that’s what they claim.

When DVDs first came onto the scene, able to store roughly six times the amount of data that a CD could, it seemed like a pretty cool discovery. CDs and DVDs both have pits (really slight impressions) on the surface of the disc. The pits on DVDs are smaller and aside from that, the space between the pits, the track-spacing, is a lot tighter. DVDs can also have up to 4 layers of information, with 2 layers on either side. All of this means that DVDs can store more a lot data than CDs.

Now a team of researchers at the Tohoku University have discovered a new way of storing the data on a DVD, which enables us to store what amounts to nearly nine discs of data on just one. They say a V-shaped pit can hold as much data as 2^9 flat pits, which means there’s the potential for a disc that can store up to 42 GB of data.

According to CrunchGear the format has two major drawbacks. First of all, the researchers say it cannot be applied to Blu-ray discs, also, the discs are not compatible with regular DVD drives. Given these factors, it’s likely they won’t ever see maintstream production.

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Via CrunchGear