Vinyl is old. That is one of its many appeals, but that also means it is ripe for some sort of update or disruption. This is the 21st century where groundbreaking innovations are happening every year. Vinyl may be in store for something new with an Austrian company applying for patents for their "HD vinyl" technology that would create a better sounding product, cut down on wasteful manufacturing materials and the amount of time it takes to press records. They claim this could be on the market in three years.
According to documents seen by Digital Music News, an Austrian company Rebeat Digital will use a process called 3D-based topographical mapping which gives it many different advantages during the manufacturing process.
It claims that this new process will cut manufacturing costs by 50 percent and cutting time by another 60 percent. This would be important to upgrade from current manufacturing processes that are both time consuming, expensive and bad for the environment.
The HD portion of the vinyl comes from what they claim is 30 percent greater running time and greater volume plus double the audio fidelity.
"We adjust the distance of the grooves, we correct the radial/tangential errors, and we optimize the frequencies," said Guenter Loibl, Rebeat CEO to Digital Music News. "You could say we 'master' the topographical data, which is a totally different approach."
It filed the patents in Europe and plans to file then soon in the United States in worldwide.
The most important thing about "HD vinyl" going forward for it commercial viability and ability to attract new consumers who have a lot of money invested in their current gear and collections is that it is reverse compatible with current record players.
"This is a completely backwards-compatible technology," said Guenter Loibl. "It will play on any existing turntable, you don't need to buy a new system to enjoy the benefits."
We will see if this ever comes to market or is able to attract consumers with an attractive price point.
