Blu-ray disc

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. Recent development by Pioneer has pushed the storage capacity to 500GB on a single disc by using 20 layers.

Blu-ray is currently supported by about 200 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has support from all Hollywood studios and countless smaller studios as a successor to today's DVD 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.


Blu-ray in india:

LG Electronics has introduced the blu-ray burner GBW-H10N in India but there is no mention of price and availability of the blu-ray burner. LG GBW-H10N sports 2MB of buffer and can write blu-ray disc (BD-R) at 4x speeds. This particular drive cannot write dual layer blu-ray disc (BD-R DL) which I consider as a major shortcoming from LG’s side.

The company says this “Super-Multi” capability has been pioneered by them to provide convenience to end users. Compatibility with all recordable disc formats takes the complexity and guesswork out of purchasing blank media.

It is also learnt that GBW-H10N is capable of burning at 4x speed for BD-R, and 2x speed for BD-RE (rewritable disc), and is also capable of writing on DVD-RAM media at 5x speed. With majority of the upcoming Blu-ray burners supporting only 2x recording, LG says the device once again breaks new ground in this rapidly emerging category.

According to R Manikandan, general manager - sales and marketing, IT Division, LG, “With the need for greater quality and higher storage capacity, LG’s Blu-Ray Disc Drive will have a significant impact in the disc drive category. As a global leader in the optical storage market, our Blu-ray Disc Rewriter is a further testament of our dedication to providing leading-edge technology.”

Sony Blu ray player:

After LG it is now Sony’s turn to launch Blu-ray disc burner in Indian market. The Blu-ray burner for Indian market is known as BWU-100A. To get this drive all you need to shell out is whooping INR 44,300. One of the main drawbacks of this drive as of now is it won’t play commercial Blu-ray movies unless you have a HDCP enabled graphics card in you PC. So what is the point in shelling out INR 44,300 for a drive that won’t play your Blu-ray movies?

Here are the specifications of the BWU-100A:

• Read Speed: 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 2x (BD)
• Write Speed: 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD�R) / 4x (DVD�R DL) / 2x (BD-R)
• Rewrite Speed: 16x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM) / 2x (BD-RE)
• Supported Media Types: CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, BD-R, BD-R DL, BD-RE, BD-RE DL, BD-ROM, BD-ROM DL
• Buffer Size: 8 MB