Resolution for movies and television is constantly expanding and the UHD 4K (which is 4 times higher resolution than our current hi-def standard of 1080), requires a lot more capacity than a 25GB Blu-ray can provide. That is why recordable media manufacturers of all kinds, including optical discs, hard drives, and flash media are increasing the size and speed at which the media can record at.

Just recently, Transcend sent out a press release that touted the upcoming release of two new Compact Flash (CF) cards (256GB and 512GB) to allow video cameras to record in full 4K resolution without missing a beat. As detailed in the release found on CDRLabs.com, “Designed to support high-end 4K cameras and camcorders from the leading manufacturers and to meet the extreme demands of professional cinematography, Transcend’s CFX650 memory cards feature the fastest transfer speeds available on the current market, while CFX600 boast the highest storage capacity.”

Of course, these large capacity CF cards come at a steep price (upwards of nearly $500 to $1,000 each) and could be price prohibitive to buy more than one or a couple to capture the original content. That’s why optical discs are still the most practical solution for distributing UHD content. For just a few dollars or less than 1% of the cost of the CF cards, one could purchase a recordable Blu-ray 25GB, 50GB, 100GB, or higher capacity for mass production to the consumer market. Even as the content gets bigger and more complex, it’s nice to know that Optical discs make that content more affordable for the masses.

Whether you are looking for blank media, including the high capacity BD-R, or for steps on how to back up or create your content, Vinpower has a solution for you. Vinpower carries a number of all types of recordable media, especially optical discs, and duplication hardware, including CF to USB adaptors so that it can be reproduced through our USB duplicators. Whatever you need in the duplication field, Vinpower can provide.

Pioneer and Memory-Tech are co-working to create a new high capacity 512GB optical disc specifically designed for data archiving. As companies like Facebook have recently publicized, keeping critical data archived on a physical media is crucial for long term storage and data recovery. There are plenty of companies working on larger capacity optical media, even as large as 1TB, but this is the first publicized report of an extremely high capacity optical disc developed specifically with long term archival as the focus. Whether it’s for highly sensitive government or corporate material or your child’s 1st birthday photos, proper archival optical discs are still the safest and most reliable method for archiving.

Even though the 512GB archival discs are not yet available, Vinpower does offer a 25GB archival optical disc solution. Contact Vinpower Digital today for all of your digital media and duplication needs.

The duplication market is constantly in flux. We have seen once dominant companies in the industry going out of business or changing their focus, which makes it harder for those who rely on duplication for their livelihood or simply need reliable methods for making occasional copies, to get the right products for their needs. Surely, one can find duplication equipment online easily, but many of those selling such equipment are settling for inferior equipment in order to minimize costs or their previous suppliers are no longer in business.

Fortunately, Vinpower remains strong and committed to the duplication market by ensuring that all of our duplication products meet our high standards. That includes maintaining leading edge features such as the ability to overburn DVD+R DL media beyond the standard spec of 8.5GB, up to 8.7GB.

The reason for this enhanced feature is that many who use DVD+R DL discs often find that the content they intend to copy is often just slightly larger than 8.5GB’s. This will make the duplication process fail in most other equipment; however, using a Vinpower DVD SharkCopier, TITAN, Aero, Cronus, or any of the Xerox Duplication line, allows the user to push past the listed 8.5GB media capacity limitation up to a more than adequate 8.7GB. Even though 200MB may not seem like a significant difference, for those that have a project they need to copy that is even just 5MB larger than 8.5GB, it makes all the difference in the world.

For more details, check out www.vinpowerdigital.com or contact a member of our sales team from any of our offices in the USA, Taiwan, China, or Europe.

Recently SanDisc announced that, through a partnership with Toshiba, has presented a technical paper for a flash memory chip that stores 128 billion bits of data. This is on par with the current highest capacity Blu-ray format with the 128GB BDXL media.

At present, optical media has enjoyed a comfortable lead as the cheapest per byte method of data storage. Additionally, outside of hard drives, optical media has long held court as the largest capacity recordable media as well. With SanDisk’s announcement, this ups the ante in the battle between optical and flash for storage supremacy.

Even though researchers generally agree that older generations (30+) have become accustomed to physical media and are more likely continue using it. It’s also a common belief that the younger generations, especially children will become accustomed to maintaining content in a digital realm. But current research has shown that not to be the case.

New research from The NPD Group found that 79 cents of every entertainment dollar spent by kids aged 2 to 14 was used on CDs, movie discs and video games, compared with 21 cents on content downloaded from the Internet. This shows that even when given the option of purchasing and storing digital content, young children are still more interested and comfortable with owning tangible items.

So when people want to pronounce the end of physical media, you’ll know that the evidence says differently.

Apple had a press conference today to announce the release of their latest generation of iPhone – the 4S. But during that conference, they took the opportunity to discuss all of the Apple products with a great deal of emphasis on their “Cloud” computing. Of course this is a great instrument to be able to store any amount or type of digital content that can be accessed from anywhere in the world one has internet access.

But I ask, what happens when the “Cloud” encounters a major storm! Say for instance, there is a glitch that causes information to be accidentally deleted or relocated into someone else’s cloud? That brings up the point of security, what if a hacker breaks into the cloud and releases personal or confidential material to the public. Think it can’t happen, what about all the cell phones of celebrities that have been hacked and photos leaked to the public? Will there’s a will there’s way.

The only secure way to store important or sensitive content is on an optical disc. Flash devices like USB can be altered or erased, only optical discs cannot be altered and with the latest archival grade discs on the market now, they can be stored safely for in some cases hundreds of years. So, do you really want to trust your precious memories, confidential information, critical research files, or anything that matters to you, to a cloud or on a disc that gives greater protection and assurance?

Being in an industry that is centered on physical media, you constantly hear about the death of the CD or how streaming is going to make physical media a thing of the past. But in reality, physical media is the most secure and cheapest method of storing data and content. If you take into account the price of media these days in comparison to flash or the recurring monthly expenses paid for the opportunity to get online content from one’s hard drive, there’s a huge discrepancy. Physical media like optical discs (CD’s, DVD’s, and Blu-ray) cost just a few cents on average, while the alternatives cost considerably more. So why spend the extra money when it’s so easy to produce your own copies of nearly any material on these discs. So, in my opinion, the future is not bleak for optical media, but I see it as being just as in demand as any other storage option!

Everywhere you turn the news seems to focus on how unstable the economy is or how this company or that company is in trouble or going out of business. It seems that now more than ever, it’s hard to say who will still be around in the coming years or even in the next 6 months.

When you purchase a product, that might not be a big factor at the time of purchase, but you have to take into account the warranty you received with that product. In most cases, for electronic equipment, the standard warranty is 12 months. In some cases you’ll find companies willing to offer up to 3 years limited warranty for free and optional extended warranties up to 5 years for a fee. That’s where the customer should be very concerned and scrutinize the economic stability of that company.

Take for instance, I purchased a piece of furniture not that long ago. At the time I thought it was a good idea to get the extended warranty since I have young children. Anyone with young children know that new furniture is like a red cape to a bull, it’s just asking to be put to the test. Well during the financial crisis, the company that I purchased the furniture and hence the warranty from, went out of business and my safety net extended warranty that I paid extra for, disappeared just as quickly.

That’s why I value the fact the Vinpower has remained securely stable, even during these troubling times, giving our reseller network and ultimately our customers the confidence that not only will we be around to support their existing products, but that we’ll be around to support their future purchases long into the future as well.

So when you look for products, whether it be duplicators or alarm clocks, make sure that besides looking solely at price, you check something more critical, the stability of the company behind the product you want to purchase.

Recently our CEO, Calvin Chang, was in Japan and noticed the below image promoting a digital convertor box for the mandatory change for the TV signal in Japan to switch from partial analog to full digital. Having gone through that in the USA recently, I was actually shocked to find out that Japan had not already converted to full digital. Normally in the realm of technology, especially with TV, Japan often leads the way.

In this case, it’s notable because it shows that eventually nearly every nation will switch video broadcasts from analog to digital which will have an impact in a number of markets including ours. Creating digital content paves the way to offer higher capacity HD content which is the backbone of the Blu-ray format. This will spear greater appreciation and desire for Blu-ray content so that the audience can truly experience the clarity and vibrancy of Hi-Def.

Even though the entire country of Japan is planned to switch over to digital in less than a month, those in the areas affected by the recent major earthquake and tsunami will be granted an extension of 1 year before they have to convert.

Every so often the Earth reminds us that ultimately we are but inhabitants on this planet and that we should not take anything for granted, especially our ability to control our environment. The Earthquakes that have taken place in Japan since Friday, March 11, 2011 have cause tremendous devastation in terms of loss of life, damage to property/infrastructure and commerce.

It is a tremendous tragedy that so many people lost their lives or lost loved ones from either the earthquake or the tsunami that followed. Then on top of that there’s the loss of personal property and livelihoods that will linger for who knows how long. But some may feel sad for the plight of people that live thousands of miles away from them and have no connection with. So they may not see how their lives will be affected.

However, based on multiple news feeds that have been coming in, show that there will be a bigger effect on our wallets in the coming days. Many of the high-end components for a majority of the technological gadgets that many of us use on a regular basis are still produced in Japan. Things for items like cell phones, cars, Blu-ray products, etc. are still manufactured in Japan and all industry is affected by the natural disasters and the subsequent human disasters that have taken place in its wake.

So, there’s no question that the shortages of these products will have an impact on the products made around the world and soon there will be price increases on many items that we have taken for granted as readily available. Even though it’s a foregone conclusion that most of the world’s CE products come from China or Taiwan, many of the key components still come from technological giants like Japan. So this event that has paralyzed a country, will spread to touch many other nations across the globe. The world is flat, as the saying goes, and the positive and negative effects are felt across every nation sooner or later.