What Comes After HD?

I'm sitting around watching a Blu-Ray movie on my Playstation 3 and I begin to think to myself, "How can video quality get any better than this?" Then I realize that this is the same thing people were thinking when the DVD was invented, or even when the now prehistoric VHS was invented. I thought about my box of old VHS tapes in the attic, most of which I replaced with the DVD version. I then looked at my collection of Blu-Rays and wondered if one day they will be sitting in the attic in a box next to the VHS tapes and DVDs.

I interrupted my movie to do what everyone does nowadays when they have a question. I typed, “what comes after HD?” into Google and began skimming through the results. I came across a technology blog with a post that matched my question. The author of the blog, Christopher Null, listed a few possible technologies that could potentially surpass the HD-DVD.

Lasers have evolved since the first “red lasers” used in CDs and DVDs. Our current Blu Rays and HD DVDs use a “blue laser” which has a shorter-wavelength laser beam, making it possible to pack more data onto a disc. Null says that the next step up would be an “ultraviolet laser,” which could put up to 500 gigabytes onto a disc.

Another possibility still uses lasers, but in a completely different way. Null says that,

Holographic data storage uses lasers to store information in multi-dimensional space instead of just two dimensions, like current optical discs. Theoretically, capacity could be about one trillion bits in a cubic centimeter of storage material, or about 125GB per cc, and maybe a terabyte on something roughly the size of a standard DVD.

Imagine the quality of picture and sound a movie could have if storage capacity is practically limitless.

Flash is a technology that shoves lasers to the side. Researchers have developed a “terabyte thumb drive” that is smaller and more durable than any optical media. As of now pricing is a concern for the technology but Null says that he wouldn’t be surprised if studios start releasing movies on Flash cards by the year 2012.

After researching the technologies in development. It’s hard to think that HD DVD and Blu Ray will be the end. Technology never seems to stop moving forward, capitalizing on itself. I’m happy with my Blu Ray technology now, I’ll try not to think about what new hardware I’ll have to buy next year to "keep up with the Joneses."