I read a great post on the Portfolio Technology Blog about new technology created by the Library of Congress and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Project I.R.E.N.E (Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etc.) was developed as a new imaging method to preserve and create digital reconstructions of recorded sound.

The technology can best be described as a scanner for your old LP records. It takes a high-resolution three-dimensional picture of the surface of a record with all its grooves. It then runs that through software that analyzes the image and recreates the sound. The software can take out scratches and hiss. Because no physical contact with the LP is required, it can even piece together music from the pieces of a broken record.

Here is a before and after of the song "Goodnight Irene," performed by The Weavers, from a 1950 shellac 78.

Don't bother checking your local Best Buy – this technology is not yet available in a desktop consumer model. But I'm sure it won’t be long. I imagine a day when I'll be able to wave my iPod over that Frampton record …

[via portfolio.com]