Blu-Ray Technology History

Millions of laptop PCs have been sold with HD DVD-capable DVD drives which will eventually be obsolete, but Dell is among the big names which chose Blu-ray technology for its computers. Like the rewritable DVD formats, Blu-ray uses phase change technology to enable repeated writing to the disc. Once the technology has come down in price (which it already has in a very short period of time) the standard DVD will step down. We are excited about helping customers find the right mix of products and services to make the next generation of high definition entertainment technology come alive for them. Blu Ray will have a longer shelf life than HD-DVD because of it's technology (including disk space), that is until physical media becomes obsolete. At 1x Blu Ray can transfer data at 36 mbps, 8x technology is already in the pipeline. Verbatim recordable and rewritable Blu-ray Disc discs use their own proprietary hard-coat technology called ScratchGuard. Employing Blue Laser technology (which has a much shorter wavelength than the red laser technology used in current DVD) high definition DVD enables a disc the size of a current DVD disc (but, which much greater storage capacity than a standard DVD) to hold an entire film at HDTV resolution or allow the consumer to record two hours of high definition video content.

Sony led the fight for Blu-ray DVD players, so-called because they use a blue laser instead of the red beam in standard players. Sony may have learned its lesson and Blu-ray's larger recording capacity will win out. Sony Has Blu Ray discs with 100 Gig capacity, but they dont need them yet. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) reports that Blu-ray movie sales increased more than sevenfold after the PS3's launch, while Blu-ray "has accounted for approximately 70 percent of the high-definition market since the first week in January," according to SPHE Worldwide prez David Bishop. Also adding to Blu-ray's momentum was the gradual increase in sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 home video-game console, which also works as a Blu-ray player. Entertainment decided to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format, joining Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Co. Blu-ray disc players (BDPs) are available from a number of manufacturers, including Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony. If you have kids you already went BluRay for the Disney films, not to mention the Sony animated films and Sony's huge film library.

While high-definition televisions have been flying off the shelves, the matching DVD players have not. With the explosion of HDTVs, customers are hungry for quality, high definition content. High-definition DVDs have more storage capacity than normal DVDs, giving better sound and picture quality. The BDA said Blu-ray sales accounted for almost two thirds of all high-definition discs sold, and it expects the market to undergo "explosive growth" this year. It has been clear for several years that the future of home viewing is on a flat screen and it's the new high-definition format which offers cinema-quality sound and pictures.