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Blu-ray: Format of the future
Paresh Jha
Issue date: 9/25/08 Section: Focus
Years ago, in the late '90s, a new form of digital video and sound was introduced to the world. Gone were the days of VHS and tracking on your VCR. This new era was the time of the DVD and it essentially wiped out video cassettes as the standard for watching movies. Fast-forward to the present and we are witnessing the beginning of yet another era.
An innovative form of technology is well on its way to becoming the new standard for high definition digital video, sound and storage capabilities. This new technology is known as Blu-ray Discs (BD) and now that it has gotten rid of any and all competition (HD-DVD) as the standard for the next generation, its importance for the future cannot be overlooked.
Most people are familiar with the term "high definition" and the general public may vaguely be aware that this term is in some way associated with Blu-ray. But the average individual isn't necessarily aware of how Blu-ray actually works. Here's some info, courtesy of Blu-ray.com and HowStuffWorks.com. High definition simply refers to superior resolution than the standard televisions most likely in your room. Blu-ray earned its namesake for two reasons. "Blu" comes from the color of the laser that is used to make the disc and ray from the fact an optical "ray" is also used.The special thing about Blu-ray is the huge storage capacity. Now in a time where high definition is increasingly becoming standard, there needed to be a way to efficiently transfer those clearer high definition images onto a disc.
Unfortunately, single-layer DVDs only have about 4.7 Gigabytes (GB) of space. That means it has enough room for about a two hour movie in standard definition and some extras. While we could probably put high definition films on DVDs it would probably require many discs. This is because high definition movies require about five times more space than the average standard definition film. This is where Blu-ray Discs come in.
Blu-ray Discs are capable of holding anywhere from 25-50 GB of information, depending on whether it is single layer or double layer. In addition to the high definition and storage capacities, Blu-ray has countless other features to lead us into a new generation of technology, such as:
An innovative form of technology is well on its way to becoming the new standard for high definition digital video, sound and storage capabilities. This new technology is known as Blu-ray Discs (BD) and now that it has gotten rid of any and all competition (HD-DVD) as the standard for the next generation, its importance for the future cannot be overlooked.
Most people are familiar with the term "high definition" and the general public may vaguely be aware that this term is in some way associated with Blu-ray. But the average individual isn't necessarily aware of how Blu-ray actually works. Here's some info, courtesy of Blu-ray.com and HowStuffWorks.com. High definition simply refers to superior resolution than the standard televisions most likely in your room. Blu-ray earned its namesake for two reasons. "Blu" comes from the color of the laser that is used to make the disc and ray from the fact an optical "ray" is also used.The special thing about Blu-ray is the huge storage capacity. Now in a time where high definition is increasingly becoming standard, there needed to be a way to efficiently transfer those clearer high definition images onto a disc.
Unfortunately, single-layer DVDs only have about 4.7 Gigabytes (GB) of space. That means it has enough room for about a two hour movie in standard definition and some extras. While we could probably put high definition films on DVDs it would probably require many discs. This is because high definition movies require about five times more space than the average standard definition film. This is where Blu-ray Discs come in.
Blu-ray Discs are capable of holding anywhere from 25-50 GB of information, depending on whether it is single layer or double layer. In addition to the high definition and storage capacities, Blu-ray has countless other features to lead us into a new generation of technology, such as:
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
mcm
posted 9/25/08 @ 11:31 AM EST
blu-ray is not the format of the future. It is presently tanking big time in the marketplace. Disc sales are actually going down. Player sales suck. The entire format is DOA. (Continued…)
Natural Cures
posted 9/26/08 @ 5:15 AM EST
That sounds really great. But will people be able to get blu ray recorders or only blu ray players. They now have DVD recorders so people can record on DVDs. (Continued…)
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