The required laser power is less than 1mW, which is comparable to a laser pointer. The laser burn changes the refractive index of the material, and is greater than encountered in other optical recording media. Writing is done on each layer inside the roll of tape, one wind at a time, without pulling the tape off the roll. It is not erasable.
Exposure is done bit by bit, by means of laser lithography.
The roll of tape is fixed in position. A writing and reading laser beam deposits or plays the information via a deflecting rotating mirror and is focused with a lens onto the selected layer and track on the tape. The balance problems incurred with higher speed CD drives is avoided, because it is the laser beam and not the removable storage medium that rotates. This implies that high-speed rotation is possible and with it, the high data transfer rates required to record and play back digital video. The development of the drive is estimated to require five years.