Blu-Ray
About Blu-Ray
Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation
optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a
group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media
manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi,
Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format
was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition
video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more
than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB
on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity
combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer consumers an
unprecedented HD experience.
While current optical disc technologies
such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write
data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray.
Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made
backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible
optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it
has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to
focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed
more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the
disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change
of numerical aperture to 0.85 is what enables Blu-ray Discs to hold 25GB/50GB.
Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 180 of the world's leading
consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music
companies. The format also has broad support from the major movie studios as a
successor to today's DVD format. In fact, seven of the eight major movie studios
(Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) have released movies
in the Blu-ray format and six of them (Disney, Fox, Sony, Warner, Lionsgate and
MGM) are releasing their movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. Many studios
have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray
Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles
every month. For more information about Blu-ray movies, check out our Blu-ray movies and
Blu-ray reviews section which offers information about new and upcoming Blu-ray
releases, as well as what movies are currently available in the Blu-ray
format.
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