Brains behind HDTV revolution want to deliver storage tech that is near indestructible — and can shrink a DVD movie to the size of a human thumbnail

• New storage method inspired by antique photographic techniques
• SWS technology preserves data for centuries without power
• NASA tests confirm SWS’s resilience in extreme conditions

Veteran engineers Clark Johnson and Richard Jay Solomon are tackling a major challenge in data storage: keeping information safe and intact for centuries without using energy.

An article on IEEE Spectrum reports how Johnson, a key figure in HDTV’s development, and Solomon have pioneered new archival technology that merges elements of antique photography with modern data needs.

Their standing-wave storage (SWS) system, developed at Wave Domain, offers a resilient, tamper-proof solution for safeguarding digital information in a tiny format.

Writing data in color waves

Inspired by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gabriel Lippmann’s emulsion technique, the technology stores data by capturing color waves in a durable silver halide emulsion. Johnson’s path to this innovation began with his HDTV work, which he developed with Solomon and a team at MIT in the late 1980s.

This work led Johnson and his team to become experts in optics and digital imaging – a skillset that now informs their latest creation. Collaborating with emulsion expert Yves Gentet, they adapted Lippmann’s method to store multiple colors per pixel, creating a high-density archival medium.

The SWS technology is designed for applications where data needs preservation over long periods without power or copies.

“The data that we read is coming off the plate at such a high bandwidth,” Solomon told IEEE Spectrum. “There is no computer on the planet that can absorb it without some buffering.” Using LEDs and a specially formulated silver…