Items tagged with optical
It's official -- there's a new Blu-ray specification called Ultra HD Blu-ray, and just as the name implies, the new spec represents a bump in resolution to 3840x2160, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced this week. To go along with the new spec, BDA came up with a new logo to delineate Ultra HD Blu-ray products. Ultra HD Blu-ray is more than just an increase in resolution, though that alone should be a selling point for anyone that's ponied up for a 4K television or monitor. In addition to matching 4K streams in resolution, the Ultra HD Blu-ray format enables delivery of a significantly expanded color range, high dynamic range (HDR), and a high frame rate content. Object based sound formats...
Read more...
One area of technology that never ceases to amaze me is storage. Despite the extreme complications in increasing densities, it continues to happen, and while at one point an 8GB mechanical hard drive seemed incredible, 4,000GB models are easily found today (with 5,000GB models on the way). When looking at "small" storage products, the increases can be even more impressive. Just a couple of weeks ago, SanDisk announced a 128GB microSDXC card; if you were to cover a CD case with these, that'd be about 15TB in storage, and all at 1mm thick. It's almost ridiculous, when you think about it. While mechanical and flash storage has seen some serious gains over the years, optical storage admittedly has...
Read more...
A growing number of gamers have been complaining about an annoying issue affecting a "very small number" of Xbox One consoles. The issue has to do with the built-in disc drive not working properly. It seems that all or most who received a faulty console hear an awfully unsettling grinding noise when popping in a game or movie. A day after initially writing about the issue, gaming news site Kotaku said it received around 150 emails from gamers who said they received a faulty system. Some offered up videos of their experience, other complained that they had spent hours on the phone waiting for a Microsoft customer support agent to answer. The issue is definitely with the disc drive and not tied...
Read more...
It seems like the tech industry at large has its collective head stuck in the cloud these days, but don't forget about optical storage. Though there hasn't yet been an official announcement, there's reason to believe that the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is close to revealing the next generation 4K Blu-ray Disc format, which could hold at least 100GB of a data. The early revelation comes courtesy of Singulus Technologies, a maker of optical disc replication equipment. Singulus Technologies just unveiled its BLULINE III, which it says is capable of replicating triple-layer 100GB Blu-ray discs. Source: Flickr (/pitzyper!) "Only Blu-ray Discs with these capacities will enable movie experiences...
Read more...
The race to figure out more efficient ways of storing the ever-increasing amount of data we generate every day is on, and researchers have developed a simple yet powerful way to dramatically increase the storage density of a DVD. How dramatic? DVDs can handle 4.7GB of storage using conventional means of burning; a group of researchers at Swinburne University say they can pack in 1,000TB (or one petabyte) on a single disc. In an article explaining the technology, the team explained that burners store data on optical discs by “burning” a string of 1s and 0s--represented by dots and performed by a single beam of light. To date, the limitation has had to do with the size of that light...
Read more...
Nobody’s going to be pulling enemy star fighters into a mothership Star Trek-style anytime soon, but researchers at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) and the Institute of Scientific Instruments (ISI, Czech Republic) have developed a tractor beam--or at least an experimental version of the concept. Basically, they figured out how to make an optical field that allows them to reverse the normal forward-moving radiation pressure of light to create a negative force that pulls particles instead of pushing them. This step forward opens the door for relatively inexpensive devices that can sort macromolecules, organelles, and cells through a process that we understand is called optical fractionation....
Read more...
The wide open worlds of 3D and Blu-ray are combining, and it's Asus that's bringing the two closer than ever. The company's new SBW-06C2X-U is a 3D Blu-ray writer, fully supporting BDXL, 6x Blu-ray writes, Blu-ray 3D playback, 2D-to-3D conversions, DVD upscaling to 1080p HD, 5.1 channel Dolby EX and DTS-HD and the ability to even play nice with Mac machines -- which cannot be ordered with Blu-ray from the factory, strangely enough. The device can be used upright or horizontal, and the sleek black form factor is certainly nice to look at. The unit is aimed at those who need to archive massive amounts of data, with the ability to burn up to 100GB on BD-R(TL), and 128GB of BD-R(QL). There's no word...
Read more...
We have discussed Intel’s Light Peak technology on a number of occasions over the last few years. We caught a glimpse of the technology at work at the Intel Developers Forum a couple of years ago and in later briefings with Intel we’ve seen the technology mature into what’s being officially announced today—Thunderbolt Technology. As we mentioned in our IDF coverage a few years ago, Light Peak was being developed in collaboration with Apple, but there are actually a number of other partners on board as well, including Aja, Apogee, Avid, Blackmagic, LaCie, Promise and Western Digital. But the original optical connections discussed with Light Peak have since been complimented...
Read more...
Sony introduced the next generation of its internal Blu-ray Disc rewritable drives. The new drives are capable of writing single BD-R media at up to 12X and dual layer BD-R media at up to 8X speeds. Sony's BWU-500S model comes with CyberLink’s Media Suite 8 software and one 25GB Sony BD-R blank disc. In addition to recording to BD-R and BD-RE discs, the drives can record to DVD discs and CDs as well. The drives use a SATA interface and a standard 5.25-inch form-factor. SONY OPTIARC AMERICA INTRODUCES NEXT-GENERATION BLU-RAY DISC REWRITABLE DRIVES SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 4, 2010 – Sony Optiarc America today announced its next-generation half-height internal Blu-ray Disc® (BD) rewritable...
Read more...
Right from the start, Sony has been one of Blu-ray's largest fans, and also one of the company's pouring the most money into marketing the format. Many people assumed that Blu-ray was a format created by Sony at first, but it's actually not. Nevertheless, Sony is now helping to advance Blu-ray into the next level, teaming with Tohoku University in order to develop a blue-violet laser with a 100W output. This may not sound too important on the surface, but it holds a lot of promise. What kind of promise? According to reports, this invention could lead to 1TB optical discs. That's a fair bit larger than the 50GB Blu-ray Discs that we have today, and while there have already been plans made for...
Read more...
Netbooks may be all the rage these days, but one thing is for sure: if you need an optical drive, you're hosed. Of course, that's why companies like Lite-On exist--to solve quandaries you never knew you'd end up in. For on-the-go computer users that love the low price and small design of netbooks, but wish they had an optical drive on certain occasions, there's the all new eTAU208.The drive is completely USB powered, meaning that travelers won't even need to hunt down an AC outlet to use it. The entire unit weighs just 0.7 pounds, and there's even a built-in USB cable holder to keep things nice and neat. It is also integrated with a top-loading mechanism for convenient CD/DVD backup and playback,...
Read more...
Plextor Announces New Lineup of Optical Drives with PlexUTILITIES Advanced Application & Diagnostic SoftwarePlextor, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, announces new products as a part of its new 2008 lineup. Featured in the new offering are 6x Blu-Ray Combo drives, 22x Super Multi DVD±RW drives, and an 8x Slim External USB DVD±RW for PC and Mac.“Plextor continues to strengthen its position in the optical storage market with the addition of these new drives to its already robust line of products,” said Bob Gronski, vice president of sales and marketing for Plextor. “Now more than ever, people are going out less and taking advantage...
Read more...
Practical optical computing is like unicorn hunting to researchers. It promises all sorts of wonderful effects like superfast speeds and less waste heat. But messing about with photons instead of electrons posed challenges that seemed insurmountable, especially the limit on the size of the conduit needed to carry it. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have come up with a way to at least partially overcome this hurdle by compressing light to fit inside spaces formerly thought impossible. Not only would compressed light make possible smaller optical fibers, but it could lead to huge advances in the field of optical computing. Many researchers want to link electronics and optics,...
Read more...
Here's an idea that - well, read it, then you decide.Indian manufacturer Spice Mobile on Tuesday introduced a phone with a built-in optical disc player, the first of its kind, here at the Mobile World Congress trade show.VMedia produces a 1.2", blue laser optical disk that holds one gigabyte per layer. Current discs have one layer, which is good enough to hold a 3.5-hour Bollywood movie in H.264 format at 720x576 resolution, Packman said. The company is working on a 2GB disk for next year, he said. In an era when everyone's talking about moving to online media, physical media still has a commanding presence in sales, Packman said.About that online media - while streaming to a cell phone isn't...
Read more...
Contemporary routing solutions mainly involve electricity, which is inefficient as the process involves the conversion of bursts of light into electrons and back again. The alternative, optical routing, has been a challenge because pulses of light are difficult to control. That may soon change as scientists at Cornell University are working on a small compact device, on the order of micrometers, that uses optically controlled containers that open and close to store and release light. The ability to store pulses of light opens the door to the possibility of being able to control the order of information flow and timing, which are two very important variables in routing communications. "The Cornell...
Read more...
DigiTimes reports that industry sources are expecting SATA to replace standard IDE as the format for optical disk drives in 2007. SATA has been extremely popular the last few years as the connection of choice for the vast majority of consumer hard drives. However, cases which were cleaned up through the use of the smaller cable were still tainted by the need to use IDE optical drives as there were only a small handful of SATA versions available. Fortunately, it appears as though the days of having a full SATA-equipped system with no bulky ribbon cables are coming soon. SATA has been adopted for several DVD-burner models, such...
Read more...
Cortina Systems Purchases Intel's Optical-Networking Components Business SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sep. 11, 2006 - Cortina Systems Inc. and Intel Corporation today announced that they have completed the sale of product lines and associated assets of Intel's optical-networking components business to Cortina. Cortina has emerged as a leading supplier of advanced communications semiconductor solutions for the carrier infrastructure market segment. The acquisition will give Cortina a large portfolio of enterprise and infrastructure communications products and will position it to become a leading communications semiconductor company. The sale will enable Intel to focus its investments on its core...
Read more...
In a follow-up to the distinctive 5.0MP dual-lens EasyShare V570, Kodak has announced the new 6.1MP EasyShare V610. The dual Schneider-Kreuznach C-Variogon zoom lenses are still carried over with the V610, but this time one has a focal length of 38-114mm while the second lens goes from 130-380mm. The V610 looks strikingly similar to its predecessor, but is slightly larger to accommodate the new 2.8" LCD screen (up from 2.5" on the V570). As with most new P&S digital cameras released these days, the V610 has the ability to capture 640x480 video at 30FPS with sound. And speaking of video, the camera also features the ability to zoom up to its...
Read more...
Looking to use that spare CD/DVD Rom drive you have laying, but you have no more room in your computer? It's a common problem, with an easy solution. PimpRig takes a look at the Enermax Laureate USB 2.0 Series 5.25" Optical Drive Enclosure, which aims to be a quick problem solver. "The Laureate has to have both the power cord, and the USB plugged in for it to function. The power cord measures close to 10.5', and USB cable is 6.5', which is ample length. The look is very streamlined and clean once all setup. Simply plugging in the USB to my PC and turning on the enclosures power button, WinXP detected the new device and I was ready to move...
Read more...
Atek Super Mini Optical Mouse Good Things Come in Small Packages... By Marco "BigWop" Chiappetta March 27, 2001 I know what you're all thinking, "This is HotHardware.Com! Why are you posting a portable mouse review?!?"...Well, I'll tell you, let me set the stage...A few weeks ago, while lounging on my couch, browsing with my laptop, I received an e-mail from the good folks at Atek Electronics asking if we were interested in taking a look at their newly released Super Mini Optical Mouse. Coincidentally, just as this e-mail was coming in, I was struggling with the touch-pad on my Compaq laptop. The touch-pad on my particular machine must be absolutely immaculate for it to even be...
Read more...
