General Electric Develops a 500GB Optical Disc

500 GB Micro-holographic discs

(PhysOrg.com) -- G.E. has unveiled a 500 GB micro-holographic disc that is the same size as existing DVD's. The storage capacity is equivalent to 100 DVD's and is aimed at the archive industry but eventually can be used in the consumer market place.

Micro-holographic discs have a larger than DVDs or Blu-ray because they store information on the disc in three dimensions, rather than just pits on the surface of the disc.

G.E. has recently made dramatic improvements in the material that significantly increases the amount of light that can be reflected by the holograms. By increasing the reflectivity of the disc you increase the storage capacity. This will enable players to be built which are backwards compatible with existing DVD and Blu-ray technologies.

In a statement, from G.E.: "the hardware and formats are so similar to current optical storage technology that the micro-holographic players will enable consumers to play back their CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray ."

G.E. also added: "the day when you can store your entire high definition movie collection on one disc and support formats like 3D television is closer than you think.'' GE will need to work with hardware manufacturers to bring the technology to the consumer market.

Micro-holographic technology is truly a breakthrough in the development of the materials that are so critical to ultimately bringing holographic storage to the everyday consumer.

General Electric's first priority will be to target the technology to commercial markets like television networks, movie studios, medical field and hospitals for holding data-intensive images. However selling to the broader corporate and consumer market is the larger goal.

© 2009 PhysOrg.com

Citation: General Electric Develops a 500GB Optical Disc (2009, April 27) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2009-04-electric-500gb-optical-disc.html
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