300 DVDs on ONE disc?

Discussion in 'Science, Technology & Car Chat' started by ralphrepo, May 20, 2009.

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ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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In a word, wow.

In a rush? For a quick synopsis, just read the red highlighted lines.

How to fit 300 DVDs on one disc

A new optical recording method could pave the way for data discs with 300 times the storage capacity of standard DVDs, Nature journal reports. The researchers say this could see a whopping 1.6 terabytes of information fit on a DVD-sized disc. They describe their method as "five-dimensional" optical recording and say it could be commercialised. The technique employs nanometre-scale particles of gold as a recording medium. Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia have exploited the particular properties of these gold "nano-rods" by manipulating the light pointed at them. The team members described what they did as adding two "dimensions" to the three spatial dimensions that discs already have. They say they were able to introduce a spectral - or colour - dimension and a polarisation dimension. The scientists used the nanoparticles to record information in a range of different colour wavelengths on the same physical disc location. This is a major improvement over traditional DVDs, which are recorded in a single colour wavelength with a laser.

Also, the amount of incoming laser light absorbed by the nanoparticles depends on its polarisation. This allowed the researchers to record different layers of information at different angles. The researchers thus refer to the approach as 5-D recording. Previous research has demonstrated recording techniques based on colour or polarisation. But this is the first work that shows the integration of both. As a result, the scientists say they have achieved unprecedented data density.

“ It's not just elegant - there are a lot of experiments that are elegant - it's relatively straightforward ” Tom Milster University of Arizona

Their approach used 10-layer stacks composed of thin glass plates as the recording medium. If scaled up to a DVD-sized disk, the team would be able to record 1.6 terabytes - that is, 1,600 gigabytes - or over 300 times the quantity stored on a standard DVD. Significant improvements could be made by thinning the spacer layers and using more than two polarisation angles - pushing the limits to 10 terabytes per disc and beyond, the researchers say.

Bit by bit

Recent efforts based on holography have shown that up to 500 Gb could potentially be stored on standard DVD-sized disks. Holographic methods take all of the information to be recorded and encode it in the form of a graph showing how often certain frequencies arise in it. That means that the recording process is a complex, all-at-once, all-or-nothing approach that would be difficult to implement on an industrial scale. By contrast, 5-D recording is "bit-by-bit", like current CD and DVD writing processes in that each piece of information is recorded sequentially. That is likely to mean that recording and read speeds would be comparatively slow, but the approach would be easier to integrate with existing technology. "The optical system to record and read 5-D is very similar to the current DVD system," says James Chon, a co-author on the research. "Therefore the industrial scale production of the compact system is possible." Now that the method has been demonstrated in custom-made multi-layer stacks, the team is working in conjunction with Samsung to develop a drive that can record and read onto a DVD-sized disc. Dr Chon says that the material cost of a disc would be less than five cents (£0.03), but there are a number of advantages in moving to silver nano-rods that would bring that cost down by a factor of 100.

For optical data storage expert Tom Milster, at the University of Arizona, the beauty of the approach is in its simplicity. "It's not just elegant - there are a lot of experiments that are elegant - it's relatively straightforward," he told BBC News. For the moment, the equipment needed to write the data would make a commercial system expensive, but that has not stopped the development of optical storage solutions in the past. "For example, Blu-ray player is not a real easy system to realise; they've got some wonderful optics in there," Dr Milster said. "People thought that would be pretty difficult to do but others managed to do it."

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8060082.stm
Published: 2009/05/20 18:47:48 GMT
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#1 ralphrepo, May 20, 2009
bbgirlsum Well-Known Member

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waaahh that kind of save ALOT of money and ALOT of hardware

#2 bbgirlsum, May 20, 2009
小小 (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)(ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡) afk

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And alot of fucking room xD

I have like 500 DVDs stacked away, not to mention my TBs of external HDs -rotfl I need this !!!!!

And this thread belongs in the tech section =p

#3 小小, May 20, 2009
bbgirlsum Well-Known Member

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meh i got stacks of DVD's waiting to be stacked up and i had to delete films and dramas off the PC and laptops because i havent got enough space or the facti can't afford a 1TB hard drive lol

#4 bbgirlsum, May 20, 2009
intraland Well-Known Member

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shit. this will be one expensive disc. good idea though! now to develop the optical drive that can burn this disc!

#5 intraland, May 20, 2009
The_Jelly NSFW? :P

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DragonLoaded said: ↑

And alot of fucking room xD

I have like 500 DVDs stacked away, not to mention my TBs of external HDs -rotfl I need this !!!!!

And this thread belongs in the tech section =p
Click to expand...

I was never a fan of backing up data on DVD's anyways. External HDs ftw lol.

#6 The_Jelly, May 20, 2009
Phantoman Well-Known Member

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The_Jelly said: ↑

I was never a fan of backing up data on DVD's anyways. External HDs ftw lol.
Click to expand...

Me neither, but unlike you I don't have a tree of money growing in my garden yet So I can't keep stacking up external HDs.

#7 Phantoman, May 20, 2009
[mJ9] Well-Known Member

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^hahaha,HD aren't so expensive

that's sooo cool!like Dragonloaded,i have lots of DVD because i prefer watching my series and dramas on TV

#8 [mJ9], May 21, 2009
tuatiao Active Member

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I think it probably would not make it to the market. Many storage companies will probably be bust if it does.

#9 tuatiao, May 21, 2009
countryboy Well-Known Member

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one question comes to mind:what do you do if the disk gets broken?
one terabytes+ of data will be gone forever!

#10 countryboy, May 21, 2009
aznrappadragon Active Member

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This would definitely not make it to the market unless its unbreakable and anti scratch DVD lol -_-;;

#11 aznrappadragon, May 21, 2009
mr_evolution ( • )( •ԅ(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

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Does it have the durability of 300 DVD's? Haha...

#12 mr_evolution, May 22, 2009
yearcalendar New Member

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Cool technology. Wonder how long does it take to burn one? LOL

#13 yearcalendar, May 23, 2009
b-lee ǝʌıʇɔǝdsɹǝd ʇuǝɹǝɟɟıp ɐ

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^lol i was thinking the same..

#14 b-lee, May 23, 2009
[N] RATED [ ]

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one scratch and there goes 500gb of data

#15 [N], May 23, 2009
bbes Incredible

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haha but i will assume it does suggest what the future will be. give it several years and it may become the norm.

#16 bbes, May 23, 2009
devils365 Member

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Looks very nice.
Where are you going to get a consumer DVD player that can read something like that though...

#17 devils365, May 24, 2009
Snowwhites Well-Known Member

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Amazing! Will it make it to the market during this life time?

#18 Snowwhites, May 24, 2009
The_Jelly NSFW? :P

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Phantoman said: ↑

Me neither, but unlike you I don't have a tree of money growing in my garden yet So I can't keep stacking up external HDs.
Click to expand...

Its only about $50 more then buying stacks of dvds. $50 is still money but money well spent if you have a lot of stuff. Externals really help you better organize your stuff.

#19 The_Jelly, May 24, 2009
bbes Incredible

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externals are good if u want to have the files temporarily and ur not sure about whether u want to keep it or not and for regular updating of files. dvds are good for archiving files u want to keep.

#20 bbes, May 25, 2009

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