Next-Generation Optical Storage Technology — Blu-ray Disc
"The Blu-ray Disc meets the storage and performance requirements of next-generation data and high-definition video applications, and is well-positioned to succeed CD and DVD technologies."
The PC and consumer electronics industries worked together to develop the next-generation removable optical storage technology — the Blu-ray Disc™ (BD). The higher capacity, additional features and transparent content protection of Blu-ray Discs provide the required headroom to meet industry needs for at least the next decade. Because the Blu-ray Disc technology was the result of a cooperative effort of leading PC, consumer electronics and digital content companies, it avoided the compatibility issues experienced in past removable storage transitions.
Why Did We Need Blu-ray Discs?
In the years leading up to the development of the Blu-ray Disc technology, it became clear that the massive storage requirements of high-definition video and interactive content, and the growing data storage and sharing requirements of the PC would outstrip DVD capacities. In 2002, nine leading consumer electronics companies announced plans to develop a specification for the next-generation of removable optical storage, now known as the Blu-ray Disc technology. Dell joined the industry group in 2004 to help develop the specification and to ensure that it met the requirements of the PC industry. Other PC companies and key Hollywood studios joined the effort later, under the auspices of the Blu-ray Disc Association.
Learning From the Past
The development effort differed sharply from the industry efforts that produced CD and DVD technologies. These technologies were marked by compatibility problems associated with competing formats, and the fact that they were released in phases. Their writable and rewritable versions designed for PC applications were not developed and released until well after their initial read-only versions. For example, music CD formats were developed and released first, followed by the formats used for PC data storage and backup. The result was a period of transition, often marked by incompatibility between discs and drives.
In contrast, the Blu-ray Disc technology had broad industry support and was designed from the beginning to accommodate the requirements of PC and consumer electronics applications. In addition, all the formats — read-only, writable and rewritable — were released simultaneously. This strategy, coupled with an industry compatibility program, helped avoid the compatibility issues experienced with previous optical storage technologies. Blu-ray Discs are readable in any Blu-ray Disc drive, whether it is in a consumer electronics device or a PC. Moreover, the discs use the same form factors as existing CD and DVD optical discs, thus enabling backward compatibility.
Blu-ray Disc Features
The Blu-ray Disc optical storage technology has the following key features:
- Massive storage capacity — Provides 25 GB (single layer) or 50 GB (dual layer) on a single-sided disc, compared to 4.7 (single layer) and 8.5 GB (dual layer) on a single-sided DVD disc
- High-definition content — Supports high bit rate, high-definition video at resolutions of up to 1,920 x 1,080, compared to DVD's 640 x 480, in progressive and interlaced formats
- Compatible with CDs and DVDs — Has the same size and look as CD and DVD, enabling Blu-ray Disc drives that can read and write CDs and DVDs
- Robust content protection — Provides strong protection that is transparent to end users
- Rich interactivity capabilities with Java® — Provides widely supported content development platform that movie studios and gaming companies can use to provide creative interactive content for the next decade or more
- Connectivity to Internet — Provides the ability to establish a direct connection to the Internet, so that content stored on Blu-ray Discs can be enriched with Web-based content
Blu-ray Disc and the PC
The Blu-ray Disc technology can expand the role of the PC platform in the home. Of course, it can be used to back up a hard drive and store the increasingly large data files that are common today, such as digital photos and video. In addition, the Blu-ray Disc technology affords the PC full-fledged, high-definition multimedia functionality. For instance, a feature film can be distributed on one Blu-ray Disc with plenty of room for additional content such as outtakes and interactive games. Play the disc in the PC Blu-ray Disc drive and view high-definition video, as well as expanded interactive features that take advantage of the PC's connection to the Internet. The Blu-ray Disc can present interactive content, including games, information about the movie, and downloadable subtitles, sounds and just-released movie trailers that can be saved to the PC's hard drive. Because of its built-in Internet connection and hard drive, the PC is perfectly suited to the role of a full-featured Blu-ray Disc player. In addition, for the first time, high-definition television broadcasts and digital video can be recorded directly to Blu-ray Discs with no time-consuming conversion, making video recording and archiving quick and easy.
Conclusion
The Blu-ray Disc technology meets all the requirements for next-generation removable storage. It has higher storage capacity, a richer feature set, can be used for data storage and high-definition content delivery, and is backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs. It prevailed over alternative formats because of its broad industry support and well-defined formats, which helped to avoid the compatibility issues associated with previous removable storage transitions. With these strengths, the Blu-ray Disc technology will dominate for the next decade or more.
