Topic: (2006) Holographic-memory discs may put DVDs to shame

[Stormbringer]

Holographic-memory discs may put DVDs to shame
18:23 24 November 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Will Knight
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A computer disc about the size of a DVD that can hold 60 times more data is set to go on sale in 2006. The disc stores information through the interference of light – a technique known as holographic memory.

The discs, developed by InPhase Technologies, based in Colorado, US, hold 300 gigabytes of data and can be used to read and write data 10 times faster than a normal DVD. The company, along with Japanese partner Hitachi Maxell announced earlier in November that they would start selling the discs and compatible drives from the end of 2006.

"Unlike other technologies, that record one data bit at a time, holography allows a million bits of data to be written and read in parallel with a single flash of light," says Liz Murphy, of InPhase Technologies. "This enables transfer rates significantly higher than current optical storage devices."

The discs, at 13 centimetres across, are a little wider than conventional DVDs, and slightly thicker. 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 a surface.

Beam-splitter
Holographic memory, by contrast, stores information in a light-sensitive crystal material using the interference of laser light. The process involves splitting a single light beam into two and then passing one through a semi-transparent material. This is a grid that acts like a filter, changing different parts of the beam to encode bits of information.

The altered beam and the reference beam are then recombined in the light-sensitive material and their pattern of interference provides a record of the encoded information. Information can be recorded and retrieved so rapidly because many bits of data can be recorded and read in parallel.

InPhase says the technique could theoretically be used to store up to 1.6 terabytes of data on the same size of disc and to read data at 120 megabits per second. This is 340 times the capacity of an ordinary DVD and 20 times the data rate.

High-speed streaming
Although holographic memory was first suggested in 1963, it has failed to find commercial success so far. However, Hans Coufal, an expert in the technology at IBM's Almaden Laboratory in California, says the holographic memory could challenge formats such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

As well as offering greater storage, Coufal says the main benefit is speed of data access. The discs developed so far by InPhase can already stream a movie recorded in high definition television (HDTV) format.

However, Coufal notes that the technology must also stand up to everyday use. "It is an open race right now," he told New Scientist. "But you have to convince the customer that it is going to be reliable."

[Javora]

Yeah I've read about this over the months in different magazines.  I wouldn't expect to see any of this until late (Nov/Dec) 2006 at the earlyest.  The Japanese company Optware has already shown a 1 terabyte version of a holographic disk.  My question is can they fit these bigger HVD's in a 5.25" drive bay or are they going to sacrifice data storage and make the disks smaller.

Personally I'm more interested in Flash Memory, I would love to see a 500Gb Flash hard drive, or even an 80Gb for that matter.

[Nemesis]

I have been reading about holographic storage for years.  Unfortunately it has yet to live up to its claims.  Early claims were for a data cube with large storage and access times comparable to or better than RAM.  Hopefully someday soon it will be a useful reality rather than a press release.

[Stormbringer]

I have been reading about holographic storage for years.  Unfortunately it has yet to live up to its claims.  Early claims were for a data cube with large storage and access times comparable to or better than RAM.  Hopefully someday soon it will be a useful reality rather than a press release.

Nem; this is going to be released in 2006.

[Nemesis]

Nem; this is going to be released in 2006.

It has been announced for next year.  But many other products in this field have been announced for next year which never arrived due to unexpected problems of one type or another.   This has been on the horizon for so long that it is hard to believe that it will soon prove to be more than a mirage.  It has made me a little cynical about holographic storage.  I've reached the "I'll believe it when I see it" stage. 

Then again until SpaceShip One appeared on the horizon I had reached the same stage about commercial manned space flight.  Now I think that has ceased to be a mirage, though I still need my binoculars to see it. Perhaps next year is the year holographic storage becomes more real than mirage.  I'll wait and see.

[Stormbringer]

Nem; this is going to be released in 2006.

It has been announced for next year.  But many other products in this field have been announced for next year which never arrived due to unexpected problems of one type or another.   This has been on the horizon for so long that it is hard to believe that it will soon prove to be more than a mirage.  It has made me a little cynical about holographic storage.  I've reached the "I'll believe it when I see it" stage. 

Then again until SpaceShip One appeared on the horizon I had reached the same stage about commercial manned space flight.  Now I think that has ceased to be a mirage, though I still need my binoculars to see it. Perhaps next year is the year holographic storage becomes more real than mirage.  I'll wait and see.

The difference, and i remmember such things as bubble memory and the holographic cube you were talking about is that those things were never demonstrated much beyond the concept level. they are playing movies with a working disk system. they have the disks and the device already. all they need to do is finalize the specs as regards to size. this is adding up to be more like blue light DVD then bubble memory.

[Javora]

I have been reading about holographic storage for years.  Unfortunately it has yet to live up to its claims.  Early claims were for a data cube with large storage and access times comparable to or better than RAM.  Hopefully someday soon it will be a useful reality rather than a press release.

Oh yeah I remember that data cube thing, a friend of mine that was in the military way back around 1990 used to tell me about that.  IIRC he said that they were using fiber optic cubes with a X - Y - Z axes lasers.  Never really thought much of it, wow that brings back some memories (pardon the pun  ).



Here is another story that I found on the Holographic disk topic.  It looks like Maxell really plans on shipping this late next year, guess we will have to wait and see.  Anyway here is the story:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/24/maxell_holo_storage/

Maxell to offer 300GB holographic discs 'late 2006'
Future 1.6TB units make Blu-ray look like cassette tape
By Tony Smith
Published Thursday 24th November 2005 17:16 GMT

Maxell will ship its first holographic storage system late next year, the company has pledged.

The storage specialist will initially offer a removable system based on 300GB media and capable of transfering data at a rate of 20MBps, Maxell said. However, the company said the technology, designed by InPhase Technologies, is capable of achieving 1.6TB per disk - and that's uncompressed capacity - with a 120MBps bandwidth.
Click Here

InPhase was founded in December 2000 by Lucent, and has been working on holographic storage - in which data is encoded as a 3D pattern written and read by laser beam - ever since. In addition to the colossal storage capacity, InPhase promises a data archive life of over 50 years, not much different to the longevity claimed by most optical media makers - a CD-RW for instance will typically retain data for 20-100 years, depending on which manufacturer you speak to.

InPhase isn't the only company promoting holographic storage. Japan's Optware - which in July won $14m in funding from four companies, one of which was Toshiba; it also has backing from Intel Capital - is working on a DVD-sized holographic disc is says will hold more than 1TB of data with a throughput of 1Gbps.

The format is dubbed HVD - Holographic Versatile Disc - and Optware is already pushing a 200GB HVD-RW disc type through the HVD Alliance, an organisation supported by Optware, Fuji Photo and half-a-dozen or so Japanese chemicals companies.

[Nemesis]

they are playing movies with a working disk system.

The MPAA will now sue them to death. 

[Stormbringer]