In the early 1980’s, the world changed with the introduction of the CD. It offered excellent audio quality and its 650MB storage capacity was a great leap in data storage and retrieval. This was the first time people had access to pre-recorded, recordable and rewritable media at low costs. It allowed extensive copying and sharing out of audio. Anyway, the necessity for greater storage capabilities grew in the nineteen nineties and resulted in the creation of the DVD which saw a five-fold increase of storage capabilities. Even though the know-how was novel, the latest DVD format made use of the same form factor as the Compact Disc that made easy the transformation to next generation format. This increased the DVD’s popularity with the clients.
Today, the blu ray discs are yet another revolution in technology. This novel optical disc system is an important creation of the Blu Ray Disc Association (BDA) which includes Dell, Hp, Hitachi, LG, Samsung, Apple, JVC, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Sony, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, Sharp and TDK. Blu Ray Disc Association consists of the Globe’s frontline producers of media, personal computers and consumer electronics items, numbering one hundred and eighty.
Blu ray discs provide enhanced storing capabilities, i.e. twenty-five GB on single-layer and fifty GB on dual layer discs. It is the perfect definition of the ultimate user experience and allows the recording, rewriting, playback and distribution of high-definition videos. The fact that the blu ray discs are based on the bare disc physical form factor renders it compatible with compact discs and DVDs.
Just as its name denotes, blu ray discs utilizes a blue-violet laser beam to read and write data instead of the red laser beam which is being used as per the available technology at present. A blue-violet laser (405nm) has a far shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm) making it possible to focus the laser spot with superior precision. The advantage of this is that, it permits data to be stored in less space since the data can be packed more tightly, which further, allows consumers to fit additional data on the disc even though it may be the same size as a CD or a DVD.
Presently supported by some of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer, video game, recording media, and music companies, these new generation blu ray discs have also won the support of Hollywood studios and other smaller studios, some of whom have already announced the release of new movies on blu ray discs.