History From COM to C.O.L.D. Technology

COLD Production Services
Future of COLD - COLD Services

History From COM to C.O.L.D. Technology

About 50 years ago, technology became available which allowed photo-reduction of source documents (i.e. paper) onto "micro-images" or miniaturized pages on rolls of microfilm. The same basic micropublishing technology is still used today by libraries, for example, to store copies of newspapers, providing enormous space savings over storing the original paper document. In the 1970's a group of electronic engineers devised a system which would essentially bypass the paper output stage and allow computers to send their output directly to microfilm. Thus, the first Computer Output to Microfilm (COM) machine was born. In these systems, an electronic stream of output data is directed to and displayed on a miniature CRT, rather than first being sent to a printer. The video image is then photographed by a specialized electronic camera to record a "micro-image". Hundreds of these images are recorded onto a single 4" x 6" microfilm card, or microfiche.

Today's COM units can produce a 2,000 page report in under five minutes. The resulting packet of microfiche can fit into a shirt pocket, weighs just a few ounces, and can be mailed for the cost of a postage stamp. The same report in paper would weigh over 22 pounds and be the size of a telephone directory. COM occupies minimal space, is inexpensive to produce and over the last 20 years has become an international standard which ensures worldwide interchangeability and compatibility. COM is extremely stable, has a life expectancy of over 100 years, is easy to read (with nothing more than light and a lens) and is legally accepted worldwide as an original legal document.

COM has obvious advantages - it takes up less space and fewer resources, can be produced cost effectively at high speed and is easier to handle than paper. However, the information via COM is typically no more efficient than paper since it is basically a manual affair. Electronic-speed alternatives such as a computer's "hard" disk drive have always been available, but in order to achieve this faster access, data integrity or permanence would be sacrificed since magnetic disks are erasable.

Recent technological advances in laser technology and optical disks have provided us with an ideal solution: high density, permanent data storage with access and distribution at electronic speeds. These new Computer Output to Laser Disks or C.O.L.D. systems have been gaining significant attention in today's information storage, retrieval and distribution markets.