Tapes continue to reign in the data capture segment for the audiovisual segment, but DVDs are the most desired formats for storage, thanks to factors such as their ease of mobility.
by Julián Arcila
And it is that there are many formats and media that have emerged in the market, some very recognized and effective, and others not so much, as is the case of the well-known virtual hard disks, which when based on the network as a means of transmitting information must execute a compression process on the material, causing it in most cases to lose final quality.
Content storage is a term used for applications that include from the maintenance and conservation of files developed by production firms, to the storage and management of content to be projected or played in large mass entertainment environments. The computing segment also uses this term to refer to alternatives to preserve data files, in their different modalities.
Yesterday and today
The evolution in communications brought with it the emergence of traditional storage formats. Since the old vinyl records, so remembered in the phonographic industry, the industry was developing new media and formats as audiovisual media were modernized. This is how different types of tapes, flexible discs, rigid disks, cd-rom discs, dvds and more recently storage media such as cards and USB disks appeared.
Luis Alberto Vásquez, director of the Colombian programmer Eleven Producciones, contributed some of his knowledge to better understand the present of this sector, which is becoming increasingly important due to several factors, including the frequent need to transport the files, the agility that is required in large entertainment spaces such as bars and theaters, but also for the security that is required for the protection of such media in an era in which hackers have practically the ability to reach the confines of any computer.
Vásquez comments that currently the most used medium is THE DVD, but that this has not yet implied the disappearance of the tapes. "Generally speaking, the most widely used medium today is DVD, mainly because of its easy access to information either from a laptop or from a reader. It is also easy and light to transport. There are customers who demand tapes as a storage medium and the most used formats in their order are Betacam SP, Digital Betacam and DVC PRO HD," he explains. However, he adds that hard drives have become a good alternative, but not the case of the increasingly common virtual disks or storage of content through the network, given the effects of their compression on the final product.
The above throws a clear trend and is that in the professional segment tapes are still the preferred elements of capture and this medium is transferred to a hard disk or DVD. {mospagebreak}
New developments
But all of the above refers fundamentally to the multimedia production segment. It is worth asking then what is being produced in the market for those who are users of the information already generated, such as video clips, soundtracks and effects for large stages such as bars, restaurants, theaters and large auditoriums, among others. This refers more to the management of already stored content.
It is clear that in the spaces or scenarios described above the wide availability of files can become total chaos when it comes to searching and playing content that was outside the production plan. This is when new developments become important, as they are inclined to simplify the processes of management, storage and protection of audiovisual data.
Usually, professional entertainment stages and spaces, even those in the business of renting resources (audio and video equipment, lighting, stages and so on) for large parties and corporate events develop large libraries of multimedia files, so finding exactly the file that is needed at any given time can be somewhat wasteful.
Therefore, the market is leaning towards digital personal servers that can somehow present the characteristic information of each file so that the user can manipulate them from anywhere. These computers generally allow you to add files in different ways, as well as being able to search and select files quickly. One of the advantages currently offered is the possibility of selecting several files or discs simultaneously, which, in some way, changes the conception of the traditional CD or DVD player, which usually manages a single medium.
Visions of the future
The future has many changes for this segment and the important thing is to analyze how users will respond to new technologies. For now, the production companies will continue to offer this service as an added value, since it cannot yet be considered an independent business unit.
Security will be one of those aspects to pay attention to; although end users are responsible for manipulating their contents themselves, the location of these materials in spaces where only trusted personnel have access to them should not be ruled out, since hacking is a scourge that has long tentacles today.
Finally, it is important to wait for what the entry of the blue-ray will bring as a storage and playback standard. According to Vásquez, "our market still has a very incipient perception at the level of customers, as far as the standard is concerned. At the level of the production companies we celebrate the unification of a format because we will always be expectant of new technological developments".
