G.E.'s holographic discs could be the technology after Blu-ray
Yesterday General Electric said it successfully developed a digital storage technology that will allow standard-size discs to hold the equivalent of 100 DVDs or about 20 single-layer Blu-ray discs.
G.E.’s holographic discs could hold 500 gigabytes of data, when Blu-ray stores 25-gigabyte to 50-gigabyte, and a standard DVD holds 5 gigabytes.
When this next-generation disc comes in 2011 or 2012, G.E. expects it will cost less than 10 cents a gigabyte. When Blu-ray was introduced in late 2006, a 25-gigabyte disc cost nearly $1 a gigabyte, and is about half that now.
Furthermore, as a reader pointed out, the $2,700 player price tag will also have to come down to the $200-$300 level before the technology gets any mass-market traction.
But for storage expert Tom Coughlin, of Atascadero, Calif.-analyst firm Coughlin Associates, 500 gigabytes might just not be enough with ultra-HD and 3D coming to your home soon.
Tom Coughlin is an expert in digital storage and organiser of the Creative Storage conference
Follows, Coughlin’s take on G.E.’s technology:
I think G.E.’s holographics will be useful for high resolution video content. For instance the ultra-HD format being promoted by NHK in Japan would have 8k resolution requiring about 16 times the storage capacity of a Blu-ray. Combined with 3D this could require at least 500 GB and possibly more.
The argument for physical distribution is that for high resolution content it will remain cheaper and faster to buy a disc than download the content.
Too costly for consumers
However, regarding the price I think it must ultimately be less than 10 cents a GB to be popular. At 10 cents a disc a 500 GB disk would cost $50 and I don’t think consumers would pay that price. I think the price of a disc must be less than $10 in volume (without any cost for the content). Note that Blu-ray has had to quickly discount their prices to increase demand for the new format.
But a higher capacity physical format at the right price point could be very attractive for future high resolution content distribution.
Hi there. Only $50 for 500 Gb is a beginning. But the player/recorder at $2,700 is another story.
[...] Analysis: General Electric Holographic Disc Is Too Costly For … [...]