What Exactly is Blu Ray?

I consider myself to be fairly up to speed with technology, especially in the video space; however, I felt like I did not have a solid understanding of Blu-Ray. So, I took a crack at figuring it out and will attempt to weed through all the tech-speak and put it into simple terms for your reading enjoyment.

What is Blu-Ray?

Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray Disk (BD) is a new type, next generation of optical disk format that was jointly developed by a team of developers and the world’s largest consumer electronic, media and computer manufacturers (approximately 200 of them). This type of format was built as a successor to DVD.

Why Blu-Ray?

Blu-Ray was developed for playback, recording and rewriting of high-definition video (HD). The format holds more than five times the storage capacity of a traditional DVD. This extra capacity dramatically enhances the HD viewing experience.

How Blu-Ray?

The existing optical disk technology for DVDs uses a red laser to read and write the data. The new BD technology uses a blue-violet laser. The benefit of the blue-violet laser is that it has a shorter wave length which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed in tight and stored in less space which is how the same size disk (same size as CD/DVD) has more storage capacity.

Where Blu-Ray?

This new format has support from basically everyone including Hollywood. The major motion picture studios as well as smaller studios plan to distribute new releases in this new format as well as DVD during the transition period. Check out http://www.blu-ray.com/movies for new Blu-Ray movies, releases and information.

When Blu-Ray?

If you live in the US or Canada, you can already find Blu-Ray players from Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, Philips and Pioneer available in stores, as well as a growing selection of Blu-Ray movies. This technology is also available in many European countries.

The two formats Blu-Ray (BD) and DVD will most likely co-exist for quite some time until the HDTVs become more widespread.

Stay tuned for more information on Blu-Ray. Next I plan to tackle some of the more technical specifications and parameters behind BD. Let us know your experience with BD as we are excited to hear about this great new technology.

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