GE’s holographic tech stores 20x more than Blu-ray on a single disc

by Rick Hodgin posted on April 27, 2009 5:22 pm

Optical storage has seen a major breakthrough today at General Electric (GE). Their 500GB holographic storage system is comprised of a disc that’s about the same size as a standard DVD-like disc, however it has the capacity of 20 Blu-ray discs or 100 DVDs. Taking its naming convention from an extension of the DVD, or Digital Versatile Disc, the new holographic technology is called Holographic Versatile Disc (or HVD).

GE reports standard-looking players will be able to read and record in a system way to today’s Blu-ray or DVD player/recorders. And while the holographic nature of the storage device utilizes the full extent of the internal 3D geometry (thickness) of the disc’s volume for storing data, the technology is close enough to existing forms that a single, unified player will be all that’s required.

GE explains, “[Our] holographic storage technology uses the entire volume of the disc material. Holograms, or three-dimensional patterns that represent bits of information, are written into the disc and can then be read out. Although GE’s holographic storage technology represents a breakthrough in capacity, 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 BDs [from a single player].”

The CD-sized disc is somewhat thicker than a conventional Blu-ray or DVD disc and is partially translucent, however it is not thick enough to prevent use in specially designed players which can handle Blu-ray, DVD, CD and GE’s new HVDs. Internally, there are intersecting beams which reach specifically into areas or layers of the 3D space within the disc’s thickness as the disc spins. In an extremely overt visual manner, it looks like this image (with multiple internal lasers actually intersecting at a single, extremely tiny spot in the real device):

By varying the depth at which the lasers intersect, multiple internal layers are able to be read from various angles, resulting in the hologram name for its storage technique. And since the layers utilize the full volume of 3D space, it is likely that as laser beam sizes decrease over time, or as the allowable thickness of HVDs increase over time, the capacity can easily be scaled.

GE has been developing the technology for six years to achieve the 500 GB milestone. They believe a 1000 GB (Terabyte) milestone will also be forthcoming, and without changing anything related to the disc size, thickness or materials, just through improvements of their existing process.

“GE’s breakthrough is a huge step toward bringing our next generation holographic storage technology to the everyday consumer,” said Brian Lawrence, who leads GE’s Holographic Storage program. “Because GE’s micro-holographic discs could essentially be read and played using similar optics to those found in standard Blu-ray players, our technology will pave the way for cost-effective, robust and reliable holographic drives that could be in every home. The day when you can store your entire high definition movie collection on one disc and support high resolution formats like 3-D television is closer than you think.”

GE does not yet have a product available for consumers, but has written “We’ll continue to engage with a variety of strategic partners to create the best route from product development to introduction into the marketplace.” GE said they would initially be focusing on the commercial archival industry, but after that the consumer markets as well.

About ten years ago Geek.com reported a company called Constellation 3D (C3D) created a Fluorescent Multi-layer Disc (FMD) which stored 140 GB using a very similar technology, though with more exotic wavelengths of light. Like a holographic storage system, that disc held 10 layers of data. Over time that research was expanded to 20+ layers of data, and then the company was sold to sources unknown. It may be that GE’s continued research is built off of this technology that we were promised would be here earlier this decade. In fact, around 2001, C3D announced that a credit-card sized device that did not spin, but simply was inserted into a player (like the way SD cards are today), would be used to store massive amounts of data, even in excess of one terabyte.