Introduction to Blu-Ray

We will go over the basics of Blu-Ray and how it will effect your life.

Blu-Ray is the next step in the ever-changing world of CD/DVD formats. As we become more of a video society our need for mass storage of video increases. Optical storage started with CD-ROMs that held a maximum of 700 MB of information. The DVD drive was introduced about 10 years ago and was able to hold up to 4.7 GB's of information with dual discs holding up to 8 GB. The problem going from here is once high-definition became reality we realized we need capacity to store larger amounts of information. The ruby red lasers used in current DVD/CD drives cannot attenuate, or in other words read small enough to, store that much data on a single disc. As scientists develop new products they found that blue lasers work could read much smaller and much deeper within the disc. Think of this as a sharper pencil that allows you to write smaller words which allows you more information on a piece of paper.

The DVD standard for Blu-Ray is now 25 GB per standard single layer disc, 50 GB for dual layer Blu-Ray disc and 100/125 GB for a triple layer disc. These standards are sure to increase in size and density as time goes on. Blu-Ray has not as of yet taken over the market, but within the next five years is surely become the majority of media that's out there. Now don't worry, some people might say, I have tons of DVDs and CDs to have to get rid of them? The answer is no, as optical drives are being developed they are all backwards compatible, meaning that your Blu-Ray player will still play and read regular CDs and DVD movies with no problems.

Look at the chart below to understand the difference between each disc.

Blu-Ray players have become paramount in new movies do the increase storage needs of high-definition and 3-D films. As the next couple years go by you will find DVD being used much less and Blu-Ray replacing those discs due to the fact that hold almost 10 times what a standard DVD will. Blu-Ray players for home are fairly common. Blu-Ray players and burners for computers are still in their infancy. This is mainly due to the cost of the media and the cost of the drives. A standard DVD burner today cost between $20 & $30, for a computer, and the media about $.25 per disc. Blu-Ray drive, for the computer, is however are still around $125-$150 each and the media can be as much as $2-$10 per disc.

As time goes on all things will come down in price and Blu-Ray will replace DVD drives. Them will be able to store much more information on much less discs. It's hard to say if anything will come beyond Blu-Ray with solid-state drives, SSD drive become the norm, and the dependability they have over plastic discs being better. Will really don't know what the future may hold. So go out buy your new Blu-Ray player for your home theater system, find a good movie and some good friends and enjoy.