Gizmodo: holographic storage

How Holographic Storage Works (Spoiler: It's a 3D CD)

Mark Wilson — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:40:00 EDT

GE just announced that they're fitting 500GB of data on discs the size of DVDs through "holographic storage" technologies. It's OK to be a bit lost. This clip explains the idea in more tactile terms.

While CDs are read in 2D space (one layer), and DVDs are read in much the same way (but with an extra layer+ of data), GE's holographic storage uses the entire disc density for storage. Data drawn through chemical reactions floats if suspended in gelatin.

Or...you could let the expert explain it in his own words about a minute in to this clip...Mr. Fancy Goggles and his fancy blue shirt. [via boingboing]

GE Makes Holographic Storage Breakthrough For Cheap(er) 500GB Discs

John Mahoney — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:39:00 EDT

~~Sheinhardt Wigs~~ GE engineers have announced a breakthrough in the formerly retardedly-expensive field of holographic storage: by making the holograms smaller, they can squeeze 500GB on standard-sized optical discs.

And the even cooler part is that the base tech will be very similar to the laser systems used to read CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs today, so the new holographic-enhanced players and drives would still be backwards compatible with previous optical discs.

Still quite a while until this approaches the realm of a product, but it's good to know about the next stupid format war this will surely spawn well before it happens! [NYTimes]

Holographic Drives on the Way This Year?

Charlie White — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 09:39:32 EST

We've been hearing rumblings of holographic drives and media for years, but now they're actually on the way, ready to be shipped this year. We saw some of these holographic storage prototypes at CES, where 515GB of data can be shoehorned onto a square inch of disk space.

What's the catch? The first wave of products will use a red laser, not the blue or green laser that will give us the most incredible densities. First out of the gate will be 300GB disks with a disappointingly slow 20MB/second transfer rate. And of course, this technology will be expensive at first. Even so, we can't wait to see those ~~red~~ green and blue laser multi-terabyte holographic disks, small and lightning-fast.

First Holographic Drives and Media to Ship in 2006 [DailyTech]