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Whither Blu-Ray and HD-DVD?

Many of the regular readers of this forum have commented on the lack of commercial success of SACD and DVD-A, and have looked forward with anticipation to the launch of the new Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD formats.

The Saturday issue of The Seattle Times carried an article on the technology page, written by two of its reporters covering the CES in Las Vegas, that raises questions about whether either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will become successful as "hi-def" formats.

According to the article, a company called InPhase (located in Longmont, CO) has announced that is has begun distribution of a new holographic storage disc called the H-ROM. This new disc, which is shipping years ahead of its expected debut, has a storage capacity of 300 gigabytes (5-10 the capacity of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray), and is read by the same type of red laser used for CD's and DVD's. The data transfer rate for the H-ROM is 20 MB per second.

InPhase is currently shipping the discs to to companies that are developing consumer devices that will use the H-ROM, and it anticipates that professional systems using the H-ROM to go on sale later this year.

So, this poses an interesting dilemma for both the entertainment industry and for aduiophiles and early adopters of new technology: support Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, or simply wait just a bit longer for H-ROM to leapfrog both of these formats?

Opinions and commentary welcome...
sdcampbell
kennyt's avatar
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
WOW! But only 20MB/Sec?? I thought HDMI could handle 5GB/sec... Think about it, a couple million pixels, plus 5.1 (or better) audio @ 96Khz, are you sure you got that number right?? If it is 20GB/sec, then it is what I have been speaking of.... TRUE HD and MC audio uncompressed!!!!!!

i hope it does come out!
sdcampbell OP
2,136 posts
 
Hi, Kenny:

I checked the newspaper article again to verify the stated data transfer rate, and it seems to be accurate. Here's a link to InPhase's news release about their holographic disc:
http://www.inphase-technologies.com/news/Tapestry_4000.html

There is also an article on this storage system in MIT's "Technology Review", which can be seen by clicking on the following link:
http://www.nxtbook.com/fx/books/rms/TechnologyReview-InPhase/

Scott C-
kennyt's avatar
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
Thanks Scott,

Appreciate the links! I am all for 'a little guy' bucxking the market....
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,418 posts
 
Nice....more confusion for the consumers, unless this is mainly used for data storage. I wonder how come the tech media is not sploshing the headlines with this news. It has awesome storage - compared to todays HDDs on home PCs and Laptops.

I hope that all the new formats succeed and consumers heave a sigh of relief.....if only!!
robm321
932 posts
 
If SACD and DVD-A haven't taken over for redbook, why would either of these formats?
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