This page will contain random links to various sources with pricing/release dates on MD discs
https://www.sony.jp/cat/lineup/audio-md-past.html [*]
https://sites.google.com/view/crazyforminidisc/home-page/history-of-blanks [*]
Sharp claims 1 million MD units shipped by Sept - 1996 [*] Sharp claims 1 million MD units shipped by Sept - 1996 (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
Sharp claims 5 million MD units shipped by November, 1998 [*] Sharp claims 5 million MD units shipped by November, 1998 (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
Sonly claims > 1 billion MD Discs sold by 2001 https://www.sony.com/ja/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200209/02-0902/ [*]
A good MD Blank Gallery [*] A good MD Blank Gallery (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Gary from Minneapolis Gallery [*] Gary from Minneapolis Gallery (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
MD Disc Press Releases:
[Company links]
a few example news links:
Sony Color collection Press Release [*]
Sony MD2000 [*] Sony MD2000 (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Sony Drive MD media [*] Sony Drive MD media (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Sony late MD part#'s [*] Sony late MD part#'s (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
Sony productpark list of older discs with model#'s and some pictures [*] Sony productpark list of older discs with model#'s and some pictures (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] example: bianca [*] example: bianca (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] example: md2000 [*] example: md2000 (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
many of the above products show up here without more info [*]
MD-74DBL color series [*] MD-74DBL color series (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] TDK expands MD production from 3 million discs per year to 4.6 million November 1998 [*] TDK expands MD production from 3 million discs per year to 4.6 million November 1998 (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
Victor D-Cruise Press Release [*] Victor D-Cruise Press Release (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Victor MD-74EBL [*] Victor MD-74EBL (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Victor Pokopo [*] Victor Pokopo (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Victor Air press [*] Victor Air press (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] Victor Air product page [*] Victor Air product page (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
https://web.archive.org/web/20040623105906/http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20040616/tdk.htm [*] https://www.phileweb.com/news/d-av/200406/16/10550.html [*]
A good thread on 5ch.net linking tons of MD disc info [*] https://hobby5.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/av/1065976343/ [*] https://hobby.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/av/1044252363/ [*]
Beyond MD: Projects of the future
Sony Press release of "quadruple density MD" 650mb MD Data [*]
http://www.minidisc.org/part_future.html [*] - Sharp was rumored to be developing 980MB and 3.6GB MD-data drives for introduction in 1998
Fujitsu and Sony jointly develop 1.3GB 3.5 inch MO [*] Max expected capacity of 3GB with 5GB expected. Capable of reading and writing existing 3.5 inch MO disks of 128/230/540/640MB.
Sharp/Sony collaborate in 2000 to make a 50.8mm disc that can record 1 gigabyte (1 GB) using a red laser (wavelength of 655 nm) and 2 gigabytes (2 GB) or more using a blue laser (wavelength of 405 nm) https://web.archive.org/web/20020202050830/http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/gaiyou/news/000323.html [*]
Mammos to deliver 20 times the storage capacity of CD-ROM [*] Sanyo Mammos Press Release [*] Sanyo Mammos Press Release (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
SANYO, OLYMPUS and Hitachi Maxell Develop A Next Generation High Capacity Media for Use with Digital Still Cameras World's smallest 50mm magneto-optical disk [*] SANYO, OLYMPUS and Hitachi Maxell Develop A Next Generation High Capacity Media for Use with Digital Still Cameras World's smallest 50mm magneto-optical disk (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*]
Sanyo created iD Photo 50mm magneto optical discs for camera use [*] Sanyo created iD Photo 50mm magneto optical discs for camera use (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] The only camera to use it was the IDC-1000z [*] - pic archive https://obsoletemedia.org/sanyo-id-photo/ [*]
2002 Kenwood / NHK project to use Blu-Violet 2 beam pickup with "phase change" optical discs. [*] 2002 Kenwood / NHK project to use Blu-Violet 2 beam pickup with "phase change" optical discs. (MiniDisc Wiki mirror) [*] - Probably some form of CD-RW but shows the state of optical research in 2002.