SEMINAR ON BLU-RAY DISC

By T.PREETI E/03/43 Group B

What is BLU RAY ???

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a nextgeneration optical disc format 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

Name BLU - RAY

The name Blu-ray is derived from the underlying technology which utilizes a blue-violet laser to read & write data The name is a combination of "Blue" (blue-violet laser) & "Ray" (optical ray) According to the Blu-ray Disc association the spelling of "Blu-ray" is not a mistake, the character "e was intentionally left out so the term could be registered as a trademark

Generation of Discs

BLU RAY Disc Association

The Blu-ray Disc format was developed by the Blu-ray disc association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, with more than 170 member companies from all over the world

The Board of Directors currently consists of: Apple Computer, Inc. Dell Inc. Hewlett Packard Company Hitachi, Ltd. LG Electronics Inc. ,etc.

BLU - RAY Disc 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 405 nm The smaller laser, compared to the DVD and CD, keeps the process more efficient (~5 mW)

BLU RAY Format

The formats of the Blu-ray disc specifications : 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

BD with Protective Catridge

Error rates increased in reading and writing after the original BRD suffered scratches and fingerprints So,the Blu-Ray Disc uses a cartridge to protect the optical discs surface from dust, scratches and fingerprints

BLU - RAY vs. DVD Capacity

CD vs. DVD vs. BLU-RAY Writing

Traditional DVDs are built by injection molding the two 0.6mm discs between which the recording layer is sandwiched Blu-ray discs only do the injection-molding process on a single 1.1-mm disc, which reduces cost

That savings balances out the cost of adding the protective layer which prevents from birefringence

BLU-RAY Advantages
Records high-definition television (HDTV) without any quality loss Records one program while watching another on the disc Creates playlists, edits or reorders programs recorded on the disc Improved sound, ability to record surround sound (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc) Enhanced interactivity, enables more advanced applications and games

Will BLU-RAY replace DVD

DVDs don't have the storage capacity to accommodate an entire movie in high-definition format but Blu-ray Disc does Seven of the eight major movie studios have already announced titles for Blu-ray The two formats (Blu-ray and DVD) will most likely co-exist for quite some time until HDTVs become more widespread

Is BLU - RAY the same thing as HD-DVD?

No, HD-DVD (previously known as AOD) is the name of a competing next-generation optical disc format developed by Toshiba and NEC The format is quite different from Blu-ray, but also relies heavily on blue-laser technology to achieve a higher storage capacity The format is being developed within the DVD form as a possible successor to the current DVD technology.

Recorder Characteristics
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 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

Video & Audio codecs it supports

MPEG-2 - used for playback of DVDs & HDTV recordings MPEG-4 AVC - part of the MPEG-4 SMPTE VC-1 - standard based on MS Windows Media Video (WMV) technology Linear PCM (LPCM) - offers up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio Dolby Digital (DD) - offers 5.1-channel surround sound Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) - offers 7.1-channel surround sound DTS-HD - offers up to 8 channels of audio

Compatibility
Recently the BDA has developed recorders that are BD/DVD/CD compatible JVC has advanced 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, which has a total storage capacity of 33.5GB

Will it work on PC?

There are many companies that have their products supporting BD-ROM (read only), BD-R (recordable) , BDRE (rewritable) drives for PCs

Desktop computer with Blu-ray drive

HP's media center PC with a Blu-ray drive

BLU-RAY players cost

Sony BDZ-S77 Blu-Ray Disc Recorder ($3,800)

Samsung's (BD-P1000) costs ($1000)

Pioneer's (BDP-HD1) costs ($1800)

Philips BD triple writer (SPD7000) costs ($500)

Release of BLU - RAY disc

During Jan 5-8, 2006 in Las Vegas, USA, the BDA announced that the Blu-ray Disc format specification has been completed and licensing is ready to begin The biggest news was that seven out of the eight major movie studios announced movie titles for the launch, including Disney, Fox, Paramount, Warner, Sony, MGM and Lions Gate All the member companies of BDA displayed their upcoming Blu-ray players, recorders, writers, drives & media

Conclusion
The industry is planning to market backward compatible drives with both blue and red lasers, which will be able to play traditional DVDs & CDs as well as BRDs The Samsung BD-P1000 blu-ray player is backward compatible Apart from this technology, Pioneer is developing an optical disc that will blow away the hard disc in most of our PCs in terms storage capacity, holding 500 GB of data Pioneer's lasers are ultraviolet, which have an even shorter wavelength than the blue

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