DISPLAYTECH BRINGS THE FUTURE OF DATA STORAGE TO LIGHT
New Spatial Light Modulators Enable Next-Generation Holographic Data Storage Products
LONGMONT, CO – NOVEMBER 13, 2006 — Displaytech Inc., the pioneer of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal On Silicon (FLCOS) technologies, has announced the availability of its Spatial Light Modulators (SLM) for use in holographic data storage (HDS) devices. The SLM permits data to be written to HDS discs which feature a capacity 10-100 times greater than high definition (HD) DVD. The SLM is currently being incorporated into an HDS drive under development by InPhase Technologies.
According to IDC, a leading provider of technology market intelligence, solutions utilizing holographic data storage (HDS) will make inroads into the professional data storage and video device markets next year. Also, IDC forecasts that as early as 2010, HDS could start to compete in consumer products for high definition video storage1. Displaytech's SLM is the first optical modulator of its kind to be designed exclusively for use in HDS devices. The SLM leverages the properties of Displaytech's FLCOS technology to deliver unique advantages such as a high-speed write rate, low overall cost due to integrated electronics and simplified packaging, and fast volume ramps because of a mature microdisplay manufacturing process.
"We chose Displaytech’s SLM because of its speed, the uniformity of its optical response, and the natural affinity of its binary pixels to the writing of digital data," said Tom Wilke, vice president of engineering for InPhase. "Most significantly, Displaytech was able to deliver a high-resolution SLM with small pixels matched to those of our camera read-head. Keeping the pixel sizes of these components small helps InPhase keep the system size and cost down. Displaytech’s solution is tailored to the requirements of our to-be-released HDS products."
"Our FLCOS technology offers the high switching speed and optical throughput necessary to effectively switch the deep-blue laser light used in holographic data storage devices," said Dick Barton, CEO of Displaytech. "It is the first of its kind to be designed from the ground up to work with the polarized laser light that HDS systems must use. As a result, we are enabling a new generation of personal and professional storage devices."
Holography breaks through the density limits of conventional storage by going beyond recording only on a surface to recording through the full depth of the medium. Unlike other optical 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.
The Displaytech SLM encodes information onto the data-carrying laser beam that is written into the holographic medium. The SLM maps the electronic data of 0’s and 1’s into an optical "checkerboard" pattern of more than one million light and dark pixels. The SLM’s 1216 x 1216 resolution and 1.1 kilohertz frame rate enables HDS devices with a transfer rate of 20 megabytes per second (MB/s).
1 Source: IDC, Worldwide Holographic Storage 2006-2010 Forecast and Analysis, Doc #34637, Dec 2005
About Displaytech
Displaytech, Inc. dramatically improves display-based products by providing high switching speed FLCOS as microdisplays that deliver brilliant, real-life, digital images enabling next-generation consumer electronics and storage products by providing FLCOS as a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM). Founded in 1985, Displaytech has shipped over 14-million devices to some of the world’s premier consumer electronics companies including Kodak, Olympus, JVC, Hitachi, Konica Minolta-Kyocera and Hewlett-Packard. The company has over 100 granted, licensed and pending patents and has received numerous honors and awards including being ranked as one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America by Deloitte and Touche in 2005. For more information, visit www.displaytech.com.
About InPhase Technologies
InPhase Technologies was founded in December 2000 as a Lucent Technologies venture, spun out of Bell Laboratories, and has achieved the goal of being the first company in the world to commercialize holographic storage technology. Shipments of TapestryTM drives and media are occurring in 2006.
While InPhase's roots lie in the company's unparalleled technical expertise in areas such as the holographic polymer media, holographic storage techniques, laser optics and drive technology, its greatest strength is the creative application of pure science and experienced engineering for the next generation of storage technology. InPhase is funded by venture capital investors New Venture Partners LLC, Signal Lake Ventures, Newton Technology Partners, Yasuda Enterprise Development, Japan Asia Investment Company, Nanotech Partners Ltd., and Mr. B.J. Cassin. Corporate investors are Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., Bayer MaterialScience AG, and ALPS Information Technology Fund. For more information on InPhase, please visit the company's Web site at www.inphase-tech.com.