Maxell Corp of America and InPhase Technologies have introduced the holographic media featuring uncompressed storage capacities of 1.6 TeraBytes per disk and data rates of as high as 120Mbps. Holographic data storage is competitive against tape technologies in capacities and transfer rate. It is claimed to offer a 50+ year media archive life and random data access. Maxell also says that the media will have the lowest cost per gigabyte of any commercial quality removable storage.

Holographic recording technology utilizes intersecting signal and reference laser beams to store data in a number of 3D hologram images capable of saving hundreds of data pages in a single location. One 5Ό inch-diameter optical disc can store up to 150 million pages -- more than 63 times the capacity of DVD. Also, with holographic recording, a multiple of form factors, such as discs, cards, etc, and laser wavelengths (red, green, and blue) can be used.

"Unlike other technologies that record one data bit at a time, holography allows a million bits of data to be written and read in parallel with a single flash of light. This enables transfer rates significantly higher than current optical storage devices," said Liz Murphy, vice president of marketing for InPhase Technologies.