What Is Blu-Ray

 

Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage with 50GB per disc. The disc has the same physical dimensions as standard DVDs and CDs.

The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet-colored) used to read and write to this type of disc. In part because of the shorter wavelength (405 nanometres), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on a DVD, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A dual-layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 gigabytes, almost six times the capacity of a dual-layer DVD, or ten and a half times that of a single-layer DVD.

During the format war over high-definition optical discs, Blu-ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format. On February 19, 2008, Toshiba—the main company supporting HD DVD—announced that it would no longer develop, manufacture, or market HD DVD players and recorders,[2] leading almost all other HD DVD companies to follow suit, effectively ending the format war.

Blu-ray Disc is developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing makers of consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures. As of December 21, 2008, more than 890 Blu-ray disc titles are available in Australia, more than 720 Blu-ray Disc titles are available in Japan, more than 1,140 Blu-ray Disc titles are available in the United Kingdom, and more than 1,220 Blu-ray Disc titles are available in the United States.

What You Need To Watch Blu-Ray

A Blu-Ray Drive

A HD TV

HDMI CABLES

5.1 Channel Systems

Where did it come from

Sony started two projects applying the new diodes: UDO (Ultra Density Optical) and DVR Blue (together with Pioneer), a format of rewritable discs which would eventually become Blu-ray Disc (more specifically, BD-RE).The core technologies of the formats are essentially similar.

The first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000.[9] Because the Blu-ray Disc standard places the data recording layer close to the surface of the disc, early discs were susceptible to contamination and scratches and had to be enclosed in plastic cartridges for protection. On February 19, 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-ray,and the Blu-ray Disc Founders was founded by the nine initial members.

The first consumer devices were in stores on April 10, 2003. This device was the Sony BDZ-S77; a BD-RE recorder that was made available only in Japan. The recommended price was US$3800;[12] however, there was no standard for pre-recorded video and no movies were released for this player. The Blu-ray Disc standard was still years away as a newer, more secure DRM system was needed before Hollywood studios would accept it, not wanting to repeat the failure of the Content Scramble System used on DVDs. On October 4, 2004, the Blu-ray Disc Founders was officially changed to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and 20th Century Fox joined the BDA's Board of Directors.

Blu-ray Disc format finalized

The Blu-ray Disc physical specifications were finished in 2004.In January 2005, TDK announced that they had developed a hard coating polymer for Blu-ray Discs.The cartridges, no longer necessary, were scrapped. The BD-ROM specifications were finalized in early 2006.AACS LA, a consortium founded in 2004,[17] had been developing the DRM platform that could be used to securely distribute movies to consumers. However, the final AACS standard was delayed,and then delayed again when an important member of the Blu-ray Disc group voiced concerns. At the request of the initial hardware manufacturers, including Toshiba, Pioneer and Samsung, an interim standard was published which did not include some features, like managed copy.

Launch and sales developments

The first BD-ROM players were shipped in the middle of June 2006, though HD DVD players beat them in the race to the market by a few months.[21][22]

The first Blu-ray Disc titles were released on June 20, 2006. The earliest releases used MPEG-2 video compression, the same method used on DVDs. The first releases using the newer VC-1 and AVC codecs were introduced in September 2006. The first movies using dual layer discs (50 GB) were introduced in October 2006.The first audio-only release was made in March 2008.

The first mass-market Blu-ray Disc rewritable drive for the PC was the BWU-100A, released by Sony on July 18, 2006. It recorded both single and dual layer BD-R as well as BD-RE discs and had a suggested retail price of US $699.

Technical specifications

Type Physical size Single layer capacity Dual layer capacity
Standard disc size 12 cm, single sided 25 GB (23.28 GiB) 50 GB (46.57 GiB)
Mini disc size  8 cm, single sided 7.8 GB (7.26 GiB) 15.6 GB (14.53 GiB)

 

High-definition video may be stored on Blu-ray ROM discs with up to 1920x1080 pixel resolution at up to 60 frames per second interlaced or 24 frames per second progressive:[50]

 

Resolution Frame rate Aspect ratio Codec
1920x1080 59.94-i, 50-i 16:9  
1920x1080 24-p, 23.976-p 16:9  
1920x800 24-p, 23.976-p 2.40:1  
1440x1080 59.94-i, 50-i 16:9 MPEG-4 AVC / SMPTE VC-1 only
1440x1080 24-p, 23.976-p 16:9 MPEG-4 AVC / SMPTE VC-1 only
1280x720 59.94-p, 50-p 16:9  
1280x720 24-p, 23.976-p 16:9  
720x480 59.94-i 4:3/16:9  
720x576 50-i 4:3/16:9  

Backward compatibility

Though not compulsory, the Blu-ray Disc Association recommends that Blu-ray Disc drives should be capable of reading standard DVDs and CDs for backward compatibility. A few early Blu-ray Disc players released in 2006 could play DVDs but not CDs

Hard To Scratch

Because the Blu-ray Disc data layer is closer to the surface of the disc, compared to the DVD standard, it was at first more vulnerable to scratches. The first discs were housed in cartridges for protection.

TDK was the first company to develop a working scratch protection coating for Blu-ray Discs. It was named Durabis. In addition, both Sony and Panasonic's replication methods include proprietary hard-coat technologies. Sony's rewritable media are spin-coated with a scratch-resistant and antistatic coating. Verbatim's recordable and rewritable Blu-ray Disc discs use their own proprietary hard-coat technology called ScratchGuard.