History of optical storage media
Although research into optical data storage has been ongoing for many decades, the first popular system was the Compact Disc, introduced in 1982,[1][2] adapted from audio (CD-DA) to data storage (the CD-ROM format) with the 1985 Yellow Book, and re-adapted as the first mass market optical storage medium with CD-R and CD-RW in 1988. Compact Disc is still the de facto standard for audio recordings, although its place for other multimedia recordings and optical data storage has largely been superseded by DVD.
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DVD (initially an initialism abbreviation of "Digital Video Disc," then modified to "Digital Versatile Disc," then officially just "DVD") was the mass-market successor to CD.[3] DVD was rolled out in 1996, again initially for video and audio. DVD recordable formats developed some time later: DVD-R in late 1997 and DVD+R in 2002. Although DVD was initially intended to prevent a format war in fact one did arise between these two formats. It was resolved with both surviving however: DVD-R predominating for stand-alone DVD recorders and players, and (for computers) most DVD devices being engineered as dual format, to be compatible with both.
With the development of high-definition television, and the popularization of broadband and digital storage of movies, a further format development took place, again giving rise to two camps: HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, based upon a switch from red to blue-violet laser and tighter engineering tolerances. After suffering a number of significant losses to Blu-ray, Toshiba announced their withdrawal from HD DVD on 19 February 2008.
As of 2007, future development beyond Blu-ray Disc appear to be based upon one or more of the following technologies, all in varying stages of development:
- Holographic data storage.
- 3D optical data storage.
- Near-field optics
- Solid immersion optics (allowing an extremely high numerical aperture).
- Discs utilizing very short wavelengths such as UV or X-rays.
- Layer selection discs (LS-R).
- Multi-level technology.
- Complex pit shapes allowing multiple channels to be stored on one track.
- Wavelength multiplexing techniques.
As of 2020, 5D optical data storage has the potential to store hundreds of terabytes of data for thousands of years.
References
- Dorian Lynskey (28 May 2015). "How the compact disc lost its shine". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
CBS released the world’s first commercially available CD, a reissue of Billy Joel’s 52nd Street, in Japan in October 1982. Philips missed the production deadline so the international release was put back to March 1983.
- Benj Edwards (1 October 2012). "The CD player turns 30". PCWorld. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
On October 1, 1982, Sony ignited a digital audio revolution with the release of the world’s first commercial compact disc player, the CDP-101 (above), in Japan.
- "Backronym definition". Pcmag. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.