CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION FOUNDATION DEVOLOPERS CHARACTERISTICS FORMATS AUDIO CODECS COMPARISON READING OF DATA COMPACTIBILITY WHY ARE BLU-RAY DISCS A SAFE, LONG-TERM ARCHIVING SOLUTION? OTHER COMPITITORS APPLICATION

INTRODUCTION
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) The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVDR, DVDRW, 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.

INTRODUCTION
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. 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.

INTRODUCTION

FOUNDATION
Blu-ray disc (BD) is appropriately named after the

blue laser used to write the data The first blue laser was developed in 1996 by Shuji Nakamura (Nichia Corporation) In 2002, an alliance was formed, called the Blu-ray Disc Association, including the likes of Sony, Samsung, etc.
The e is intentionally left out of the name due to

trademark restrictions

DEVOLOPERS
Developed by Blu-ray Association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, from all over the world. The Board of Directors currently consist of: Apple Company, Inc. Dell Inc. Hewlett Packard Company Hitachi Ltd. Matsushita Electric Corporation LG Electronics Inc. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

DEVOLOPERS
Pioneer Corporation Electronics Sharp Corporation TDK Corporation Royal Philips Sony Corporation Sun Microsystems, Inc. Twentieth Century Fox Thomson Corporation Warner Bros. Entertainment Walt Disney Pictures

CHARACTERISTICS
Single layer: 25 GB

Dual layer: 50 GB Diameter: 120 mm Thickness: 1.2 mm Center hole diameter: 15 mm Uses GaN laser of wavelength 400 nm

CHARACTERISTICS
The power conservation allows the development of

multi-layer platforms and high-speed recording Numerical Aperture measures the ability of a lens to gather and focus light. As the numerical aperture increases, the focusing power increases and the beam size decreases Over two hours of HDTV can be placed on a single layer BD, which correlates to over 13 hours for standard TV The transfer rate is 36 megabits per second

CHARACTERISTICS
At 1x speed, it takes

approximately 1.5 hours to record an entire single layer BD Recorder Cost: $1,500 $2,500; BD Cost: $26

CHARACTERISTICS
The power conservation allows the development of multi-layer platforms and high-speed recording Numerical Aperture measures the ability of a lens to gather and focus light. As the numerical aperture increases, the focusing power increases and the beam size decreases Over two hours of HDTV can be placed on a single layer BD, which correlates to over 13 hours for standard TV The transfer rate is 36 megabits per second

FORMATS
BD-ROM - read-only format for distribution of HD movies, games, software, etc.
BD-R - recordable format for HD video recording and PC data storage. BD-RE- rewritable format for HD video recording and PC data storage.

AUDIO CODECS
Linear PCM (LPCM): up to 8 channels of uncompressed

audio. Dolby Digital (DD): format used for DVDs, 5.1-channel surround sound. Dolby Digital Plus (DD+): extension of Dolby Digital, 7.1channel surround sound. Dolby TrueHD: lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio. DTS Digital Surround: 5.1-channel surround sound. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio: extension of DTS, 7.1channel surround sound. DTS-HD Master Audio: lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio.

COMPARISION

COMPARISION

READING OF DATA
Discs store digitally encoded video and audio information in pits spiral grooves that run from the center of the disc to its edges. A laser reads the other side of these pits the bumps to play the movie or program that is stored on the BD. The more data that is contained on a disc, the smaller and more closely packed the pits must be The smaller the pits (and therefore the bumps), the more precise the reading laser must be.

READING OF DATA
Unlike current DVDs, which use a red laser to read and write data, Blu-ray uses a blue laser A blue laser has a shorter wavelength (405 nanometers) than a red laser (650 nanometers). The smaller beam focuses more precisely, enabling it to read information recorded in pits that are only 0.15 microns (m) (1 micron = 10-6 meters) long this is more than twice as small as the pits on a DVD. Plus, Blu-ray has reduced the track pitch from 0.74 microns to 0.32 microns.

READING OF DATA
The smaller pits, smaller beam and shorter track pitch together enable a single-layer Blu-ray disc to hold more than 25 GB of information about five times the amount of information that can be stored on a DVD.

READING OF DATA

READING OF DATA

COMPATIBILITY
This issue has introduced a competitor, the HD-DVD, that based its technology around being compatible with the DVD Recently the BDA has developed recorders that are BD/DVD/CD compatible JVC has advanced the BD by developing a BD/DVD combo disc that stores both DVD and BD data. It is composed of two DVD layers and a third BD layer storing 33.5 GB total

COMPATIBILITY

WHY ARE BLU-RAY DISCS A SAFE, LONG-TERM ARCHIVING SOLUTION?

The recording layer of a Blu-ray disc is located just under the cover layer, which is only 0.1 mm thick. To protect it and thus ensure long-term Blu-ray disc content reliability, several technologies have been developed by media manufacturers Stable Writing & High Protection: The cover layer is applied precisely and smoothly to the disc, not to deflect the sensitive laser beam when reading or writing. It also ensures evenness in recording layer protection.

WHY ARE BLU-RAY DISCS A SAFE, LONG-TERM ARCHIVING SOLUTION?

Scratch-Free Protective Layer: Blu-ray standards stipulate one scratch-free top layer that is dirt and dust repellent and prevents fingerprint smudges from interfering with the discs readability. New Light-Resistant Recording Layer: Made up of an inorganic material that is different from DVD/CDs, which use pigments, BDs recording layer is less sensitive to ultraviolet light. Overwriting Reliability: Changed material in the recording layer allows rewriting on a BD-RE up to 10,000 times with stable quality.

WHY ARE BLU-RAY DISCS A SAFE, LONG-TERM ARCHIVING SOLUTION?

OTHER COMPITITORS
JVC - Blu-ray/DVD combo disc - 33.5-GB HD-DVD or AOD (Advanced Optical Disc), Toshiba and

NEC; single-layer HD-DVD-RW -15 GB; a double-layer -30 GB; a triple-layer -45 GB Taiwan -Forward Versatile Disc (FVD)- 5.4 GB- singlesided disc and 9.8 GB - double-sided disc China - Enhanced Video Disc (EVD) Sony -XDCAM and ProData (Professional Disc for Data). Pioneer is developing an optical disc that will blow away the hard disc in most of our PCs; holding - 500 GB; Pioneer's lasers are ultraviolet, which have an even shorter wavelength than the blue.

APPLICATION

1. STAND ALONE PLAYER

APPLICATION

2-Recordable stand alone players

APPLICATION

3. PC DRIVE 4. Portable stand alone players 5. Universal player (Blu-ray and HD-DVD) 6. Recordable PC drives