T23-Group 5

Blu-Ray Technology
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An Intro From wiki. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray) About Blu-Ray

Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage with 50GB per disc. The disc has the same physical dimensions as standard DVDs and CDs.

The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet-colored) used to read and write to this type of disc. In part because of the shorter wavelength (405 nanometres), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on a DVD, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A dual-layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 gigabytes, almost six times the capacity of a dual-layer DVD, or ten and a half times that of a single-layer DVD.

Comparison between Blu-Ray & Normal DVD
(Blu-Ray)              (DVD SS SL) Physical Size	                12 c                     12 cm   Capacity	                 25 GB	                 4.7 GB   Resolution                1920 x 1080 pixels        720 x 480 (NTSC) Laser	                    Blue (Violet)	    Red & Near Infrared Wavelength	                405 nm	                  650 nm                             ( (Blu-Ray)        (DVD SS SL) ) (Recording Speed (Range)    1x – 8x	           1x-20x) (1x Data Rate	              4.5  MB/s	  1.35 MB/s) (1x Write Time	       90 min	           61 min) (8x Data Rate	              36 MB/s	          10.8 MB/s) (8x Write Time	       12 min        	   8 min) (20x Data Rate	-	27 MB/s  (20x Write Time	-	3 min •	 High Definition video can be stored on blu-ray disks with up to 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution at up to 60 frames per second interlaced (odd and even lines are drawn alternatively) or 24 frames per second progressive (all the lines are drawn in sequence) •	 The Blue-violet lasers shorter wavelength makes it possible to store more information on a standard sized disk

•	 The Blu-ray disks also feature improvements in data encoding that further increase the disks capacity

•	 One of the disadvantages of the Blu-ray disk was that the data layer is closer to the surface of the disk compared to the standard DVD therefore making it more at risk for damages and scratches.

•	 A Hard-coating technology has since been invented to protect the disk.

•	 Many people are happy enough with the standard DVD. 87% of video sales worldwide are standard DVD

•	 Blu-ray disks are significantly higher prices

•	 High definition TV and the appropriate cables are all required to take advantage of HD Blu-ray picture quality

•	 Most Blu-ray players are now backwards compatible meaning they are able to play standard DVDs as well

•        The Blu-ray contains much better graphics due to its higher resolution coming from more pixels in each frame, and it allows each frame to be displayed in better and richer color density in the frame. The picture contains more colors to represent the picture, so it looks more realistic and in higher definition.

•        But because of that, the storage of the disc also requires to be much larger since it requires much more pixel in each frame. •        Unless you have a really large screen or a High Definition TV, else the image would actually look quite similar in quality, because it is not easy to distinguish and to capture all of the extra pixels in the screen by our eyes. •        Unless you magnify the screen and take a closer look like the reviews, else it would actually look very similar. •        Blu-Ray technology requires large HD TV and HDMI cables to utilize the technology well.

Yu Kiu Wong

History

Commercial HDTV sets began to appear in the consumer market around 1998, but there was no commonly-accepted, inexpensive way to record or play HD content. In fact, there was no medium with the storage required to accommodate HD codecs, except JVC's Digital VHS and Sony's HDCAM. Nevertheless, it was well known that using lasers with shorter wavelengths would enable optical storage with higher density. When Shuji Nakamura invented practical blue laser diodes, it was a sensation, although a lengthy patent lawsuit delayed commercial introduction. Origins

Sony started two projects applying the new diodes: UDO (Ultra Density Optical) and DVR Blue (together with Pioneer), a format of rewritable discs which would eventually become Blu-ray Disc (more specifically, BD-RE). The core technologies of the formats are essentially similar.

The first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000. Because the Blu-ray Disc standard places the data recording layer close to the surface of the disc, early discs were susceptible to contamination and scratches and had to be enclosed in plastic cartridges for protection. On February 19, 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-ray, and the Blu-ray Disc Founders was founded by the nine initial members. The first consumer devices were in stores on April 10, 2003. This device was the Sony BDZ-S77; a BD-RE recorder that was made available only in Japan. The recommended price was US$3800; however, there was no standard for pre-recorded video and no movies were released for this player. The Blu-ray Disc standard was still years away as a newer, more secure DRM system was needed before Hollywood studios would accept it, not wanting to repeat the failure of the Content Scramble System used on DVDs. On October 4, 2004, the Blu-ray Disc Founders was officially changed to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and 20th Century Fox joined the BDA's Board of Directors.

Blu-ray Disc format finalized

The Blu-ray Disc physical specifications were finished in 2004. In January 2005, TDK announced that they had developed a hard coating polymer for Blu-ray Discs. The cartridges, no longer necessary, were scrapped. The BD-ROM specifications were finalized in early 2006. AACS LA, a consortium founded in 2004, had been developing the DRM platform that could be used to securely distribute movies to consumers. However, the final AACS standard was delayed, and then delayed again when an important member of the Blu-ray Disc group voiced concerns. At the request of the initial hardware manufacturers, including Toshiba, Pioneer and Samsung, an interim standard was published which did not include some features, like managed copy.

Zilong,Zhou

•	High Definition video can be stored on blu-ray disks with up to 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution at up to 60 frames per   second interlaced (odd and even lines are drawn alternatively) or 24 frames per second progressive (all the lines are drawn in sequence)

•	The Blue-violet lasers shorter wavelength makes it possible to store more information on a standard sized disk

•	The Blu-ray disks also feature improvements in data encoding that further increase the disks capacity

•	One of the disadvantages of the Blu-ray disk was that the data layer is closer to the surface of the disk compared to the standard DVD therefore making it more at risk for damages and scratches.

•	A Hard-coating technology has since been invented to protect the disk.

•	Many people are happy enough with the standard DVD. 87% of video sales worldwide are standard DVD

•	Blu-ray disks are significantly higher prices

•	High definition TV and the appropriate cables are all required to take advantage of HD Blu-ray picture quality

•	Most Blu-ray players are now backwards compatible meaning they are able to play standard DVDs as well

Ongoing development

Although the Blu-ray Disc specification has been finalized, engineers continue working to advance the technology. Quad-layer (100 GB) discs have been demonstrated on a drive with modified optics (TDK version) and standard unaltered optics ("Hitachi used a standard drive."). Hitachi stated that such a disc could be used to store 7 hours of 32 Mbit/s video (HDTV) or 3.5 hours of 64 Mbit/s video (Cinema 4K). In August 2006, TDK announced that they have created a working experimental Blu-ray Disc capable of holding 200 GB of data on a single side, using six 33 GB data layers.

Also behind closed doors at CES 2007, Ritek revealed that they had successfully developed a High Definition optical disc process that extends the disc capacity to 10 layers. That increases the capacity of the discs to 250 GB. However, they noted that the major obstacle is that current reader and writer technology does not support the additional layers. JVC has developed a three-layer technology that allows putting both standard-definition DVD data and HD data on a BD/DVD combo. If successfully commercialized, this would enable the consumer to purchase a disc which could be played on current DVD players, and reveal its HD version when played on a new BD player. The first 'hybrid' Blu-Ray/DVD combo is announced to be released February 18. The Japanese optical disc manufacturer Infinity has announced this. 'Code Blue' will feature four hybrid discs, which feature a single Blu-ray layer (25GB) and two DVD layers (9 GB) on the same side of the disc.

In January 2007, Hitachi showcased a 100 GB Blu-ray Disc, which consists of four layers containing 25 GB each. Unlike TDK and Panasonic's 100 GB discs, they claim this disc is readable on standard Blu-ray Disc drives that are currently in circulation, and it is believed that a firmware update is the only requirement to make it readable to current players and drives. In December 2008, Pioneer Corporation unveiled a 400 GB Blu-ray disc, which contains 16 data layers, 25 GB each, and will be compatible with current players after a firmware update. A planned launch is in the 2009-2010 time frame for ROM and 2010-2013 for rewritable discs. Ongoing development is under way to create a 1 TB Blu-ray disc as soon as 2013.

At CES 2009 Panasonic unveiled the DMP-B15, the first portable Blu-ray Disc player and Sharp introduced the LC-BD60U and LC-BD80U series, the first LCD HDTVs with integrated Blu-ray players. Sharp has also announced that they will sell HDTVs with integrated Blu-ray Disc recorders in the United States by the end of 2009.

As of April 2008, a joint licensing agreement for Blu-ray Disc has not yet been finalized. A joint licensing agreement would make it easier for companies to get a license for Blu-ray Disc without having to go to each individual company that owns a Blu-ray Disc patent. For this reason a joint licensing agreement was eventually made for DVD by the DVD6C Licensing Agency.

Blu-ray Disc (BD) Live is a term applied to the Internet based interactive features and functions that can be enabled on a Blu-ray Player and displayed and controlled via BD user interface. This interactive functionality is supported by “Profile 2” BD Players and enabled by Blu-ray discs authored with the appropriate code that “calls back” to a network side server. This technology enables content and service providers to offer value-added interactive features that can be initiated and managed by consumers via their disc player remote control directly from their living rooms.