HVD or Holographic versatile discs are the next-generation of storage media currently in development phase. HVD’s can store 3.9 terabytes (TB) of compressed data, which is equal to 3,900 gigabytes (GB) of information. HVD’s have a data transfer rate of 1 gigabit per second, that is equal to 128 megabytes per second, or greater than six times of high-speed DVD ROMs.

HVDs are referred as next-next-generation, as this technology is yet to be widespread. High optical storage media like Blu-ray discs & HD DVD’s give storage capacities & speeds far higher than a typical DVD & both are dominated by the specifications of HVDs. HD DVDs can store 15 GB of data in a single layer & 30 GB in dual layer, & around 45 GB in a triple layer disc. Whereas Blu-ray discs can store 25 GB in a single layer & 50 GB in dual layer and they don’t come anywhere near the tremendous capacity of HVD’s.

HVDs are expected to be launched in the year 2006, with discs of 150-300 GB storage capacities costing an estimated US$100 and above per piece, whereas the readers will cost somewhere near US$ 10,000. HVD players will be designed to be compatible with present CD & DVD format.
A technology called ‘collinear holography,’ is used in HVD’s to store and retrieve data. In these system two laser beams, one blue-green & the other red are collimated into one single beam. The purpose of the blue-green laser is to read the data that is encoded as laser interference fringes on the holographic layer at the top, whereas the red laser functions as a reference beam & is used to read the servo information on the aluminum layer.

There is a layer of dichroic mirrors that is placed in between the holographic & servo data layer which reflects back the blue-green laser ray, allowing only the red laser rays to pass through and reach the servo data. This eliminates the chances of the interference that may happen because of the refraction of blue-green laser from the servo data cavities.

The greatest challenge for HVD’s will be to establishing itself in this demanding computer market, which as of now seems to be a far dream, provided the higher price margins of this technology.

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