[ale] Wired News : A New Way to Look at Optical

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 From Wired News, available online at:
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,40053,00.html

A New Way to Look at Optical  
by Andy Patrizio  

2:00 a.m. Nov. 9, 2000 PST 
A new optical storage media that can hold up to 140GB of data on a
disc the size of a CD-ROM -- the equivalent of putting the data from a
DVD video onto a credit card -- makes its debut at Comdex. 

Fluorescent Multilayer Disc (FMD) is the creation of Constellation 3D
and represents a fundamental change in the way optical media is
designed.    Compact Disc (CD) and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) use
single and dual magnetic layers, respectively, to store data in pits
and grooves, similar to the way grooves store music on vinyl records. 

The limitation of CD and DVD is that the solid, reflective layer where
data is stored cannot be accurately penetrated by the laser. In the
case of DVD, the laser can penetrate one layer deep to read the second
layer, but after that, the laser becomes diffused and unable to read
the data clearly. 

FMD-ROM is a totally clear disc. Instead of reading a single layer,
the data is stored on fluorescent materials in multiple layers, which
give off light. The existence or nonexistence of these materials on a
layer tells the drive whether there is information there or not, which
allows the whole system to handle many more layers. Constellation 3D
has talked about 10 or more layers per disc. 

The five-inch disc, which is the same size as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs,
can hold up to 140GB of data -- almost 30 times the capacity of a
DVD-ROM disc. 

"There's a clear need for high-capacity data storage, most obvious in
consumer applications like HDTV (high-definition TV)," said John
Ellis, vice president of marketing for Constellation 3D. "There are
other applications like digital cinema and mobile apps that require
huge amounts of data storage like digital cameras." 

A high-definition movie can run up to 20GB in size, well beyond that
of a DVD player. So FMD-ROM is not a competitor to DVD, but the next
step, said Ellis. 

Constellation will be showing off the new media to the public for the
first time next week at the Comdex conference in Las Vegas. And it
will have some of its partners on hand, including Zeon Chemical, a
developer of optical media polymers that will make the media for FMD
products. 

"We found their technology very interesting," said Paula Fips,
director of new business development at Zeon. "No one else is even
approaching that level of density. I think in the future people will
grow into it," she added. "You won't realize how much you can do with
15GB until you have 15GB to fill up. I think it will move us into an
area of greater data storage with lighter, smaller form factors." 

The company also plans on releasing much smaller media, such as credit
card-sized and smart card-sized products for a stand-alone user or for
use in devices such as digital cameras and digital camcorders. 

Because the storage area can be kept very small and capacity is
increased by adding layers, one can put several gigabytes on an area
the size of a postage stamp. 

The first generation of FMD-ROM drives will be read-only, but the
company is also working on producing recordable FMD technology by the
end of 2001. You can, however, see the read-only version at Comdex
next week when Constellation demonstrates a high-definition video
player. 

Semiconductor giant Texas Instruments is also giving FMD a close look.
"We see this as being a great technology moving forward and a great
deal of potential for it," said Steve Haddad, director of advanced
business development for Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas. 

"We see the opportunities to be endless. If this is played right from
a marketing, development and partnership standpoint, the acronym
FMD-ROM could be as popular as CD-ROM and DVD."  

Related Wired Links:  

High Speed Net Launched in Space  
Nov. 6, 2000 

Las Vegas Sexes Up for Comdex  
Nov. 6, 2000 

Storage System Glows Brightly  
Oct. 5, 1999 

Copyright  1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. 



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