HVD Format Gains Backers
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Date 07 Feb 2005
Author Gordon Kelly
HVD Format Gains Backers
Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) technology may still sound like
science fiction, but it has just edged a little closer to reality
after acquiring the support of six Japanese industry heavyweights.
Fuji Photo, CMC Magnetics Corporation, Nippon Paint Co, Optware
Corporation, Pulstec Industrial and TOAGOSEI have announced they are
behind the venture, and claim that the technology could come to market
soon after 2006. So, with the battle between new disc formats Blu-ray
and HD-DVD still raging, consumers may have an alternative to both,
sooner than they might have imagined.
The concept behind HVD is something called collinear holography which
combines a reference laser and signal laser on a single beam, creating
a three-dimensional hologram of data fringes. These fringes, the
Alliance purports, enable discs the same size as DVDs to store more
than one terabyte of data (1,000GB) or roughly 200 times the capacity
of a single layer DVD. Data transfer rates are also claimed to be very
high at over 1Gbit/sec (40 times faster than DVD).
By comparison, single layer Blu-ray discs hold just 25GB of data and
dual layer 50GB. HD-DVD is even smaller, holding 15GB on single layer
and 30GB on dual layer. Of course Sony has demonstrated an eight layer
Blu-ray disc with a capacity of 200GB, but even that is just one fifth
of that capacity that HVD hopes to achieve. Intriguingly, the HVD
Alliance also claims high level compatibility with DVD and CD discs,
so you shouldn't have to throw out all your old software.
Now there could be an argument for saying: who needs one terabyte of
data when you can store up to 50GB with dual layer Blu-ray? Yet
history proves that consumers always manage to fill these new storage
capacities and with two hours of HD programming expected to require
between 15 and 25GB, there is a compelling argument for HVD.
Links:
www.optware.co.jp/english
Printed 7 Feb 2005 @ 21:29 Content is © TrustedReviews.com
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Check ths site for pictures of the product.
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