IKEGAMI AND IN PHASE TECHNOLOGIES partner up

Ikegami a leading maker of high definition
broadcast television cameras and production equipment, has signed an
OEM (original equipment manufacturer) agreement with InPhase
Technologies, of Longmont CO, to sell high-capacity holographic
data-archiving systems under the Ikegami name.
Combining high storage
densities and fast transfer rates with durable, removable media,
holographic technology is poised to become the next-generation solution
for reliable, low-cost data storage and archiving. The initial product
resulting from the agreement will be an Ikegami-branded 300GB
holographic data recorder/player that uses a 130mm disk-based media
cartridge with a shelf life of 50 years. Second- and third-generation
data recorders and cartridges are in development with capacities of
800GB and 1.6TB, respectively; both will be backward-compatible.

“Ikegami
is pleased to enter into this historic agreement with InPhase
Technologies, a pioneer in the highly beneficial field of holographic
data recording and storage,” states Naoki Kashimura, Marketing Manager,
Ikegami Tsushinki.

“Ikegami was the first company to develop and market
tapeless video acquisition technology with its Editcam ENG/EFP
camcorder, and we anticipate widespread interest among broadcasters,
cable networks, and leading program producers in this new and
revolutionary 300GB digital video archiving solution. It is especially
needed now that the industry is transitioning to high-definition
television production, which has greatly increased demands for
digital-video storage and archiving capacities. Ikegami’s version of
the InPhase 300GB digital video archiving solution will be configured
specifically for the needs of the broadcast and entertainment
industries. This holographic archiving product furthers Ikegami’s
aggressive commitment to providing its customers with truly tapeless,
wireless, seamless HDTV content-creation solutions.”

The Ikegami-branded InPhase holographic data recorder will enable users
of Ikegami’s Editcam and EditcamHD camcorders to transfer edited or
camera-original video content via FireWire or FTP interfaces to highly
stable 300GB cartridges with all the advantages of tapeless nonlinear
archiving and retrieval. Editcam and EditcamHD acquisition will
continue to utilize Ikegami’s hard-disk-based and solid-state FieldPak2
media, which can be overwritten for repeated use. In addition to high
storage densities, fast transfer rates, and a 50-year shelf life,
holographic storage is more cost-effective than tape or optical media
(projected cost is approximately ten cents per gigabyte), does not
require special environmental controls, offers true write once/read
many (WORM) performance, is easily integrated with asset management and
archiving software, and records video exactly as originally recorded,
adding no additional compression.

The cartridge-encased 130mm holographic storage disc media is comprised
of two substrates with 1.5mm of recording material between them. Data
is recorded between the substrates, with no surface recording. This use
of the full depth of the recording material is a major factor in the
robustness of the holographic media itself. Data is recorded at 1.4
million bits per second, using a blue laser from 405 to 407 nm in
wavelength.

“Holographic recording, which stores information in three dimensions,
has a ‘roadmap’ for density that outperforms any other technology,”
explains Liz Murphy, InPhase Technologies’ VP of Marketing. “We’ve
already demonstrated 515GB per square inch data density in our labs in
May, which is beyond the capacities of hard drives. What this means is
it really opens a major market opportunity for holographic recording in
terms of storage products and the size. Holographic storage avoids the
cost issues associated with Flash memory, and since we’re not spinning
the disk at all, it also eliminates the power issues inherent with hard
drives. Maxell is an investor in InPhase, as well as its
media-manufacturing partner.”