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Posted by slugworth on 10/02/20 11:27
HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray: And the Winner is...
Barry Braverman
Sep 22, 2005 10:08 AM
The high-resolution DVD format war continues to rage unabated with
plenty of vitriol spewing from the lips of proponents and detractors
on both sides. Unresolved, the outcome will likely benefit neither
player as consumers, paralyzed by the competing formats, will simply
opt out of the technology altogether. This is what happened a few
years ago in the case of DVD-Audio vs. Super Audio CD, and it looks
like were setting up for a similar debacle in coming months.
Of course it may happen that the winner is not one of the two
principal contenders at all, but a new technology lurking in the
wings. The Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) is the stealth player in
this protracted struggle; the rapidly emerging technology is capable
of storing (eventually) 3.9 TB of data on a CD/DVD sized disc.
Beyond this extraordinary capacity roughly the equivalent of 800 DVDs,
the formats zippy 1 Gbps thorughput has tremendous implications in
the commercial, industrial and d-Cinema realms. HVDs massive storage
will undoubtedly find wide use for backup and archiving in media
libraries, including at the Hollywood studios where the highest value
digital assets are generally stored on tape and systematically
re-archived every seven years to assure long-term integrity.
With its large capacity and bandwidth, HVD could be just what we need
to combat the ever-growing deluge of data, a behemoth of zeros and
ones growing exponentially with each passing day as more production
and postproduction is performed at 2K and 4K resolutions.
For theatrical exhibitors, HVDs 1 Gbps bandwidth means that d-Cinema
presentations can be played directly from the disc. This is a critical
point as theatre operators, studio executives, and video on demand
executives quickly realize that the digital delivery of gargantuan
movie files via FTP is impractical and unreliable even at the proposed
modest 2:1 compression level.
HVD offers not only the efficiency and reliability of delivering a 2K
or 4K resolution movie overnight in a Fedex envelope, it can do so
with absolute security a vital concern to Hollywood and high-profile
content owners. HVDs security is derived in part from the one million
possible keys per page of data. Bearing in mind that 22,000 such pages
can be written every second, each with its own unique key, one can see
how HVD can easily embrace a virtually unbreakable security scheme.
Looking at HVD slightly differently, the media contains no readable
data until a hologram actually forms, and this can only happen if the
correct key or keys are present.
Current DVDs record data onto the surface at a rate of one bit per
pulse of the red laser. A holographic optical disc however improves on
that rate considerably, recording pages of data volumetrically at
60,000 bits per pulse! The holographic lens floats above the moving
disc rotating at 300rpm, the lens constantly micro adjusting the green
or blue laser to compensate for vibration and flutter just like in a
portable DVD player.
This raises the interesting notion of whether HVD recorders will ever
be mated to professional camcorders. It could happen. Already credit
card size media with a 30 GB capacity has been demonstrated. Broadly
similar in concept to current P2 memory cards, HVD storage requires
moving heads over the medium in a continuous and fluid fashion, Since
the HVD card does not rotate, reliability and stability is assured.
Positioning or angle of the medium does not appear to be an issue in
order to produce the required hologram.
First-generation HVD recorders will likely utilize a green laser
recording system mostly due to the lower cost. A higher energy blue
laser will be introduced later to achieve full capacity as advertised.
In both cases, a parallel red laser is also used as a reference for
precise alignment of the data beam and optics. The red laser also
provides compatibility with conventional red-laser CDs and DVDs
currently on the market.
With the finalization of the HVD standard in mid-2006, the door will
be thrust open to rapid commercial exploitation. Look for the first
commercial HVD player/recorders with a capacity of 200 GB to hit the
market in about nine-months. Media capacity is expected to increase
quickly to 1 TB and 3.9 TB shortly thereafter.
Consumer applications of HVD technology including home players and
recorders appear to be at least several years off, so for the moment
HD-DVD and Blu-ray will continue to rage in this crucial market. For
commercial and professional users, however, the outcome of the current
DVD format war may be moot as many of us seek solutions elsewhere in
the three-dimensional shadows and fringes of the Holographic Versatile
Disc.
http://videosystems.com/e-newsletters/HD_Disc_Contenders092205/
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