Blu-ray is an optical disc format which is set to rival HD-DVDin the race to be the de-facto standard storage medium for HDTV. The HD-DVD vs Blu-ray battle resembles that between Betamax and VHS and DVD+RW and DVD-RW.
Currently, the major Hollywood film studios are split evenly in their support for Blu- ray and HD-DVD, but most of the electronics industry is currently in the blue corner.
The key difference between these new players and recorders and current optical disc technology is that Blu-ray, as its name suggests, uses a blue-violet laser to read and write data rather than a red one. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light, and according to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which is made up of, amongst others, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, and Pioneer, this means that the laser spot can be focussed with greater precision.
Blu-ray discs have a maximum capacity of 25GB and dual-layer discs can hold up to 50GB - enough for four hours of HDTV. Like HD-DVD, Blue laser discs don't require a caddy and the players and recorders will be able to play current DVD discs. Codecs supported by Blu-ray include the H.264 MPEG-4 codec which will form part of Apple's QuickTime 7, and the Windows Media 9 based VC-1.
The BDA says that although blue laser discs and players are already shipping in Japan, they won't ship in the US until the end of 2005 at the very earliest. It is likely that players will be very expensive initially, compared to DVD players. In Japan, they cost the equivalent of $2000. However, as with all new technology, prices will quickly fall - particularly as Blu-ray will be competing with HD-DVD for that space under your TV.
Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.
Wireless Networking, Part 1: Capabilities and HardwareThese days it isn't... Read More
Have you ever felt like throwing the fax machine out... Read More
So you need to check your IP address, for whatever... Read More
EEPROM stands for Electrical Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory and... Read More
The gaming laptop is coming of age! It is steadily... Read More
When Quality is the Target, but not the Result, what... Read More
Rear Projection Television - An Affordable OptionA great deal of... Read More
Our corporate intranet is a non-framed environment with both Lotus... Read More
Inkjet printers were born in the 1980s, replacing the popular... Read More
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron is a... Read More
The data on your hard drive is the most critical... Read More
Q : What is over clocking?Overclocking is when you make... Read More
Should you buy an extended warranty with your laptop? You... Read More
PC cooling systems are one of the hottest - and... Read More
Why are there faint areas or gaps in my print... Read More
Tools needed:1 - 10cc Injector1 - 4" - 5" of... Read More
Plug and play equipment or hardware solves the problem of... Read More
Wow- if you do it first time and have some... Read More
There are many different names for these drives, just so... Read More
Bar code readers have proven themselves to be essential tools... Read More
High definition DVD, also known as HD-DVD (which actually stands... Read More
Today, small form factor computers demolish the myth that bigger... Read More
HP refurbished laptops can be found on their website hpshopping.com.... Read More
Data Centers are the core of the Internet. The computer... Read More
Current sense resistor is usually located in the switch mode... Read More
Roll over lumbering desktop computers, the limber laptop is here,... Read More
Think you got a great deal on a printer? Like... Read More
If you are tight on budget, go for Inkjet Printer.... Read More
You can purchase an inkjet printer for as little as... Read More
As 2005 begins, there are a number of products on... Read More
So you know a little bit about tape backup, but... Read More
Current sense resistor is usually located in the switch mode... Read More
OK I confess I've bought at least 10 inkjet printers... Read More
The importance of a bar code reader in this day... Read More
It is a given fact that buying wholesale would make... Read More
Just about everyone would I agree, I think, that wires... Read More
It is extremely important not to make or write any... Read More
A surge protector [AKA surge suppressor] is an electrical plug-in... Read More
Video technology has increased significantly over the past years, and... Read More
Soon the human brain will be completely interfaced with the... Read More
Bar code readers have proven themselves to be essential tools... Read More
With all the wheeling and dealing that seems to take... Read More
ROUTING PROTOCOLSA generic term that refers to a formula, or... Read More
The first installment in this two-part series of Tech Tips... Read More
Have you noticed that laptop computers are beginning to dictate... Read More
MMC and SDFlash memory is available in so many formats... Read More
The number of different formats available in DVD drives can... Read More
In May 2005 U.S hardware history was made.This was the... Read More
What is so important about cables anyway?One of the most... Read More
So many people have small USB drives today, but what... Read More
Computer Hardware Computer Hardware |