Blu-ray (not Blue-ray) often known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed through the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a collection of the world’s leading consumer electronics, PC and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson).

The format was produced to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as wel as storing large amounts of data. This format presents more than five times the storage capability associated with traditional DVDs and can keep as much as 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This added capacity combined with the use of superior video and audio codecs will offer customers an unprecedented HD experience.

Whilst current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVDR, DVDRW, and DVD-RAM make use of a red laser to read and write data, the new data format employs a blue-violet laser instead, consequently the name Blu-ray. Despite the distinctive type of lasers used, A Blu ray disc player can simply be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of making use of a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength as compared to the red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot using even greater accuracy. This enables data to be packed much more tightly and also stored in less space, hence it’s possible to fit extra data on the disc even though it’s the identical dimension as a CD/DVD.

This together with the change of numerical aperture to .85 is what enables Blu ray Dvds to hold 25GB/50GB. Recent development by Pioneer has pushed the storage capacity to 500GB on a single disc by utilizing 20 layers.

Blu-ray is now supported by about 2 hundred of the world’s major consumer electronics, personal pc, recording media, computer 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 commence releasing new feature films on Blu ray Dvds as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month. .

If you are seriously looking at a Blue Ray Disc Player visit this useful web site http://buyblueraydiscplayer.com There is information on all Blueray and best prices on the net