300GB holographic disc ready in 2006
We haven’t even started the shift from DVDs to Blu-ray (or HD-DVD), while the yet another generation of discs are already on their way in. InPhase Technologies and Hitatchi/Maxell have formed an alliance to manufacture and market these holographic discs with monstrous 300GB capacity already in the 2006.
These revolutionary discs are a bit thicker and a bit wider (13cm) than the current CD/DVD physical standard. But on the inside they are a whole lot different than current disc formats, or the upcoming so called high definition formats.
Tapestry can store more than 26 hours of broadcast-quality high-definition video on a single 300GB disk, recorded at a data rate of 160Mbps. The discs are 13cm in diameter and a little wider and thicker than conventional DVDs.
Normal DVDs record data by measuring microscopic ridges on the surface of a spinning disc. Two competing successors to the DVD format - Blu-ray and HD-DVD - use the same technique, but exploit shorter wavelengths of light to cram more information onto the surface.
The Tapestry system uses light from a single laser split into two beams: the signal beam and the reference beam. The hologram is formed where these two beams intersect in the recording medium.
The process for encoding data onto the signal beam is accomplished by a device called a spatial light modulator, which translates the electronic data of 0s and 1s into an optical ‘checkerboard’ pattern of light and dark pixels. The data is arranged in an array or ‘page’ of around a million bits.
Source: vnunet.com
