A new laser writing technique has been patented that could see DVD storage capacity increase a hundredfold.

Current DVD capacity is about 8.5GB of data but the new technique, known as Articulated Optical Digital Versatile Disc, could boost that figure beyond 800GB.

It works by burning angled grooves in discs and then analysing the light reflections from the surfaces to decode the data.

"The nano-replication technologies used to fabricate these structures at low cost are just emerging from various labs," said Fred Thomas, chief technologist at Iomega, which was awarded the patent last month.

"I believe that the scope of Iomega patents issued and pending in this area, in conjunction with these exciting new nano-replication technologies, will make this a fertile area for optical data storage development and innovation for years to come.

"As high definition content becomes more pervasive, Iomega sees significant technology partnership and licensing opportunities for this intellectual property."

The new idea could also boost data write and read speeds by a factor of 30, according to the company. It is currently looking for ways to commercialise the technology.