Blu-ray (blue ray) Disc (BD) is an optical disc format used for recording, rewriting and playback at increased density and storage of large digital amounts of data, including high-definition video, which is now superseding the DVD format.

This format was developed by the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) consortium in partnership with a group of leading more than 180 consumer electronics, personal computer and media companies from around the world.

The name Blu-ray comes from the main technology that uses a blue-violet laser to read and write data and is a combination of "Blue" (blue-violet laser) and "Ray" (optical beam).

The format offers capacity:
- Single layer Blu-ray Disc (BD) can store 23.3GB (25GB),
- a dual-layer disc can hold 46.6 GB (50 GB),
- a three-layer disc can hold 100 GB,
- a four-layer disc can hold 128 GB,
- also demonstrated 16- and 20-layer disks for 400 and 500 GB.

Like regular CDs and DVDs, Blu-Ray provides a wide variety of formats including ROM / R / RW.

The following Blu-Ray formats are supported:
- BD-ROM - read-only HD movies, games, software, etc.,
- BD-R is a recordable format for HD video recording and storage of computer data,
- BD-RE - rewritable format for HD video recording and storage of computer data,
- BD / DVD hybrid format that combines Blu-ray and DVD on one disc so that it can be played in both Blu-ray players and DVD players.

Blu-ray uses the Universal Disk Format (UDF) 2.50 or 2.60 file system.

According to the Blu-ray Disc specification, 1x speed is defined as 36 Mbps.

Blu-Ray supports the following video codecs:
- MPEG-2 - HD extension for DVD playback and HDTV recording,
- MPEG-4 AVC, also known as H.264 (High Profile and Main Profile),
- SMPTE VC-1 is a standard Windows-based Microsoft Media Video (WMV) technology.

Blu-Ray also supports audio codecs:
- Linear PCM (LPCM) - up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio,
- Dolby Digital (DD) is a format used for DVD, 5.1ch surround sound,
- Dolby Digital Plus (DD +) - Dolby Digital extension, 7.1ch surround sound,
- Dolby TrueHD - lossless encoding up to 8 channels of audio,
- DTS Digital Surround - the format used for DVD 5.1 channel surround sound,
- DTS-HD High Resolution Audio - DTS extension, 7.1 channel surround sound,
- DTS-HD Master Audio - lossless encoding up to 8 channels of audio.

Blu-ray discs have a hard coating for protection that makes them more resistant to scratches and fingerprints than DVDs.
Blu-ray also features a new error correction system that is more reliable and efficient than DVDs.

Part of the Blu-ray format is the Managed Copy (MMC) feature, which allows consumers to make legal copies of their Blu-ray movies that can be streamed over their home network.

As with any new technology in the first generation of products, while Blu-ray has a high price tag due to low production volumes, prices are expected to fall after mass production of Blu-ray components.

Answers on questions

BIOS and UEFI What is ... System (mother) boards Computer monitors CD, DVD,
Blu-ray discs Mouse, keyboard BP - Power supplies Storage - hard drives Random access memory (RAM) Computer Audio MFPs and printers Miscellaneous issues Graphics cards

Which caused a lot of questions and debate.

As part of this material, I want to provide answers to the most popular questions, or rather, the myths that are shrouded in this new optical disc technology.

I hope this material will help everyone to clarify the situation for themselves and decide whether to use Blu-Ray now, or wait.

So, let's begin!

Myth 1: "Blu-ray is expensive!"

Most common belief.

Yes, it is understandable that, for example, a regular DVD-R disc costs a couple of tens of rubles, and a BD-R disc costs a hundred at once.

But let's start with the price per gigabyte!

It'll be fair, won't it?

One DVD-R disc holds 4.7GB of information (to be exact, 4.481GB) and costs an average of 17-20 rubles.

I mean now - only QUALITY discs. It is clear that you can find a blank DVD-R for a price of 5 rubles, but this is a “non-name” product that we are not even talking about. But back to the calculations ...

One BD-R disc holds 25 GB of information, which is exactly 5 times more than a simple DVD-R.

Now let's multiply the cost of one DVD-R by 5: 20 * 5 = 100. 100 rubles (plus or minus) costs 5 high-quality DVD-R discs.

But that is how much a BD-R disc costs on average! Maybe a couple of dozen rubles more expensive, but this is rare. This is understandable, excess prices can be observed in some stores.

Well, even if you buy a BD-R disc for 130-140 rubles, we can assume that you paid extra for a nice bonus: you do not need to split your files into 4.7 GB chunks (as is the case with DVD), but you just threw them on one disk.

This can be an invaluable advantage, for example, when it comes to burning a home photo archive to disk, right?

Myth shattered: Blu-Ray discs are no more expensive than regular DVDs!

You can check it yourself. Look at the cost of discs in online stores, look for those price ranges that I indicated.

I, in turn, will give a couple of links to prove the above calculations for prices.

Myth 2: "Why Blu-ray when you have USB hard drives?"

Of course, it would be very incorrect to compare these two completely different classes of information storage devices, but we and you, so be it - we will do it.

Arguments in favor of HDD:

- "Profitable: high capacity and low price"

- "Data storage reliability"

- "The ability to overwrite"

Now let's look at them all in turn.

“Profitable”. Again, let's turn to our price per gigabyte. A typical 500 GB hard drive costs an average of 2800-3000 rubles.

A rewritable BD-RE disc costs about 120 rubles: http://meg.ru/shop/UID_4379.html.

We multiply 120 rubles by 20 disks (20 BD-REs of 25GB each is 500GB) and we get 2,400 rubles.

It turns out even cheaper! 😉

"Reliable." This is absolutely not true. Pick up and drop a regular optical disc off the table and onto the floor. Then take and insert that optical disc into your computer. We can guarantee 1001% that it will read perfectly.

What happens if you drop your hard drive?

And this fact cannot be dismissed: no one has yet canceled accidents. And this randomness can cost all the data, which is also important if we are talking about storing valuable data.

Now I am not trying to take a few facts out of context and veiledly mix them up. I just want to show that EACH of these devices has its drawbacks.

An optical disc must be handled with care so as not to scratch - it is true. But no less careful you need to treat the HDD, so as not to "knock" it accidentally, not to overheat, correctly connect / disconnect, etc.

The list of pros / cons goes on and on. And in principle - they all equalize each other.

“Overwriteable”. A BD-RE disc can be rewritten almost 1000 times.

Once I conducted an experiment with DVD (their number of allowable rewriting cycles is the same). I bought myself a new DVD-RW disc and "vowed" to use only it until it stops rewriting.

The disk was used very heavily, myriad gigabytes went through it, but it is still perfectly rewritable and readable!

Conclusion: 1000 cycles is a lot. Really a lot.

Myth 3: "Blu-ray is still fresh technology and BD is still not good quality."

Oddly enough, this myth has no basis either.

First, Blu-Ray technology itself has been around for over 5 years.

Secondly, it has nothing to do with the quality of the discs.

High-quality BD discs are produced by such well-known companies as: TDK, Verbatim, SONY, Panasonic, PHILIPS.

Myth 4: "You need special software to burn Blu-ray discs"

This is absolutely not true. BD discs can be burned with the same programs that are designed to work with DVDs: Nero, Ashampoo, etc. Many of them are completely free.

I recommend a great, feature-rich, and completely free program: Ashampoo Burning Studio Free.

Myth 5: "Blu-ray drive must be carefully selected due to compatibility issues"

Likewise, a statement that has no basis. Yes, sometimes there are cases of incompatibility with certain discs (mainly with "non-proprietary" discs).

Guaranteed protection against this is simple: always buy only branded discs. Always remember that when you buy an unknown cheapest disc, you are buying a POOR-QUALITY media for your valuable information.

Myth 6: "Blu-ray will soon disappear from the market"

Absolutely not true.

Yes, not so long ago there was a time when we all could observe the confrontation between two standards: HD DVD and Blu-Ray. However, after a short "battle" it became clear that Blu-Ray is more promising, convenient, simple and relatively cheap technology.

We can safely say that the era of war is long over. Today we have an absolute winner - Blu-Ray, which for the next couple of decades, at least, will not leave the market.

Myth 7: "Blu-ray is cheap consumer goods today"

Just because the prices of Blu-ray drives and discs have dropped significantly today does not mean that they are of poor quality.

Pay attention to the choice of the drive: today it is quite possible to buy an excellent drive (the same Pioneer or ASUS) for $ 100, and it will write excellent discs.

Epilogue

Well, we have reviewed the most pressing and pressing questions about Blu-Ray that can only be found among users.

I hope this material was useful to you and helped to clarify a lot of new things for yourself.

If not, ask questions in the comments! 🙂

Blu-ray Is a type of optical media. It is used for storing video and computer games, and is high definition.

What do you need to watch movies in excellent quality (Blu-ray)? In order to get a clear answer to this question, let's first figure it out: what is Blu-Ray.

So, Blu-Ray is an optical media format that is used to transfer and reproduce relatively large amounts of information. Such, for example, are modern high-definition films. The format itself appeared in 2006, but even today it is not very popular.

In order to read information from a Blu-ray disc, users need a player of the same format. We advise you to choose a model that supports reading DVDs as well. Since almost everyone has a large DVD library and you don't want to lose it either. And since most models of Blu-Ray players are sold without DVD playback function, please pay attention to this figure when choosing a product.

Let's take a closer look at the specifics of choosing a Blu-ray player. In many models of players there are many different options and functions, among them the most in demand are: scaling, screensaver, upgradeable firmware, quick launch, Russified menu, picture in picture, as well as protecting it from children. Pay attention to the fact that there are as many audio and video formats as possible. The following formats must be mandatory - Mp3, audio CD, DVD ± RW and BD-R / RE, and besides CD ± RW and BD-Rom.

We have covered the functions of the BDP-S370. Additional functions of this model are as follows:
- very fast speed of work;
- better image transmission, which is achieved as a result of the use of DeepColour technology;
- watching movies in Full HD 1080;
- Application of PhotoTV HD technology when viewing various digital images;
- Surround sound of sufficient high definition (7.1-channel technology);
- the ability to update the firmware via.

And it costs only 4,000 rubles.

But if you already have a Blu-Ray player and have a simple, plain old TV, then there is no point in Blu-Ray. Since to watch modern films you need to have a good HD TV too. Because discs, characterized by the Blu-Ray format, provide a unique opportunity to watch films in HD format. And this is a high definition format. I advise you to choose an LCD TV.

What is an LCD display? A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display that creates a picture using liquid crystals. Without realizing it, we use LCD displays very often - this is a computer display, advertising screens, etc.

The leading companies that have established the production of high-quality LCD TVs are Philips, Samsung, Sony, LG. Each manufacturer has certain pros and cons. So, for example, LG has a lower price, Philips and Sony will offer you higher image quality, and Samsung will offer more functionality.

What is the difference between LCD TVs?

First, there is permission. Resolution is the size of the display measured in pixels. The higher the resolution, the clearer the picture you will get.

Second, the size of the point. The smaller the dot on your device's screen, the better the picture quality. But, accordingly, the smaller the screen will be.

It is important enough to look at the proportional format. This indicator is defined as the ratio of width to height. Our TV broadcasting is carried out in 4: 3 format. But it is better not to choose such a TV, since all films today are shot mainly in 16: 9 format. And very soon Russian TV will switch to widescreen broadcasting.

One of the important indicators is the diagonal. most commonly measured in inches. As a reminder, 1 inch equals 2.5 cm.

Also important indicators are (that is, the ratio of brightness, which is taken from the brightest point to the darkest), brightness, viewing angle. The latter indicator is quite important for TV, since TV viewing rarely occurs from one point. The higher the viewing angle, the better.

TV capabilities

Let's now take a look at the capabilities of a modern TV. So, if a few years ago it was possible to watch only television on TV, now this has changed.

Each TV has the ability to connect a DVD or Blu-ray player to it. You can connect a USB drive (flash drive, etc.) to many TVs and not only watch movies or just listen to your favorite music, but also read text documents. Also, you can connect a computer to many TVs and use the TV as a display.

If you have chosen a TV, bought a Blu-ray player and an appropriate disc, you need to connect the player to the TV. You can get detailed information on connecting the player in the instructions. Blu-ray players are connected not like DVD and VHS devices, but into special ports.

Now you have everything you need to watch the most interesting movies in high quality on Blu-Ray.

HD DVD (High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is a new format that can store large amounts of information and reproduce high quality pictures and videos. Using advanced technology, HD DVD is composed of denser layers and is readable with a finer laser than conventional DVDs, allowing you to store five times more data than standard DVD - 15GB single layer / 30GB dual layer.

Why is HD DVD better than standard DVD?

High definition (HD) images are brighter, incredibly clear, and look very realistic. This stunning level of detail cannot be reproduced on a standard digital video disc, which has 480p (or 480 lines) resolution. HD DVD can store the amount of data required for high quality video in 720p (720 lines) / 1080i (1080 interlaced) resolution, allowing you to watch video programs with greater brightness and higher quality than ever before.
In addition, when you buy a movie on DVD, you usually get not only the movie, but also additional features, for example, commentary by the director, actors or operators of documentaries (depending on the disc, of course). On HD DVD, there is an opportunity for previously unrealized special features: imagine, for example, interactive content - where the director explains the shooting scene on the screen while the movie continues to play in the background. With advanced quality and additional audio and video capabilities, HD DVD is a huge step forward in DVD technology.

What is Blu Ray?

Blu Ray is a new format capable of storing large amounts of information and playing high-quality images and videos. Through the use of advanced technology, Blue Ray is composed of denser layers and is readable with a thinner laser than conventional DVDs, allowing you to store five times more data than a standard DVD - 25GB single layer / 50GB dual layer.

What is the difference between HD-DVD and Blu Ray?

Although Blu-ray and HD DVD are high definition formats based on blue laser technology, there are several important differences between the two.
The first is size. The Blu-ray player uses a shorter wavelength laser than HD DVD. Therefore, more data fits per unit surface. Consequently, a single layer disc can contain 25GB of data (HD DVD - 15GB), a dual layer disc - 50GB (HD DVD - 30GB)
The second difference is content. Several major studios have announced that they will only support one media format. For example, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (including MGM and Tri-Star), Twentieth Century Fox and Disney will only release films on Blu-ray, while Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and HBO will only release films on HD DVD, Paramount announced the release of films in both formats.
Although the formats are incompatible with each other, they are united by high quality video and soundtrack, new additions to films, intuitive and more interactive disc management compared to standard DVD.

HD DVD

The HD format appeals to those buyers looking for a higher level of detail and quality in movies, games and other digital media. Increased scan lines, higher video resolution and superior sound quality are the qualities that differentiate high definition footage from standard format footage. Here are some of the distinguishing characteristics
materials in HD standard:

• Compared to 525 scan lines per image
• standard definition image frame
• high definition contains 720 to 1,080 lines
• sweep.
• Support for advanced video formats,
• including MPEG-2 SD / HD, H.264, VC-1.
• Support for formats that provide high
• sound quality, including PCM (Pulse Code
• Modulation, pulse code modulation),
• Dolby TrueHD (MLP), Dolby Digital +, DTS HD.

As a result, viewing HD content is immersive. The image appears to be off-screen and looks surprisingly lively. Until recently, films and other HD content were not available to customers. The reason for this is simple: More detailed images require more storage than a regular DVD. HD DVD is one of the next generation DVD standards; this type of media is designed to increase storage capacity, allowing you to store a full HD movie along with special HD features on a single HD DVD.

CAPACITY: DVD COMPARED TO HD DVD

The capacity of a standard single layer DVD disc is only 4.7 GB, or up to 2 hours of regular film. The dual layer DVD with up to 8.5 GB storage capacity can play regular movies up to 4 hours (240 minutes) without changing discs. Compared to these values, the capacity of an HD DVD disc is significantly larger. An HD DVD can contain up to three layers. Each layer holds 15 GB of HD content for a maximum capacity of 45 GB. A single triple layer HD DVD can store up to 12 hours of HD recording. For HD movie lovers, this means there is still room on the disc for HD special features. Of the HD DVD features, the support for iHD, the interactive HD format, is particularly interesting. One example of the interactivity provided by this feature is overlaying a video onto a movie being played back. Typical DVDs often include commentary from the director, actors, producer, and other technicians. Video commentary can be played on HD DVD so that the viewer can get a complete picture of the movie making process. Obviously, HD DVD is an excellent medium for high definition material.

HOW THE HD DVD WORKS

In general terms, an HD DVD disc has the same structure as a DVD disc and consists of two connected backs
substrates with a diameter of 120 mm and a thickness of 0.6 mm. As with DVD technology, information on an HD DVD is stored as a series of microscopic notches arranged in a long spiral on the disc. The data is recorded on a layer 0.6 mm from the surface. This means that the methods currently used in DVD technology can be used to make HD DVD discs. Therefore, HD DVDs are compatible with DVDs, which means that an HD DVD drive can read DVDs as well. So how are HD DVDs different from DVDs? The answer is simple. Unlike DVD technology, which uses red lasers, HD DVD technology uses blue lasers to increase storage capacity. With a shorter wavelength blue laser (405 nm instead of 650 nm in DVD), it allows more information to be stored on HD DVD. Decreasing the wavelength is important because it reduces diffraction, which allows for more accurate focusing on the read / write surface. Difference
about the same as between writing with a thick felt-tip pen and a ballpoint pen. Here, HD DVD technology introduces thin, precise and crisp ballpoint pen writing. As a result, blue laser technology can record and store more data on a disc of the same diameter than a regular DVD.

How is the HD DVD format evolving?

HD DVD-ROM players are now commercially available, allowing the hobbyist to view and play HD content. For gamers and movie buffs, this is great news. The next step is to introduce the ability to burn HD DVD discs. This innovation will allow users to burn materials to discs. For those looking to create their own HD content, personal collections of such content, or simply take advantage of the increased storage capacity for backups, these future developments are major breakthroughs. As the distribution of HDTV broadcasts and HD recordings over broadband connections continues to gain in popularity, access to HD content for recording and playback will expand. Users will be able to customize their entertainment in HD format.
Microsoft has ended support for the HD DVD format, techPowerUp reports. The corporation said that HD DVD drives for the Xbox 360 game console have been discontinued.
Toshiba announced that after revising its overall financial strategy, management has made a final decision to discontinue production of HD DVD players and recorders. “We didn't have a chance to win this fight. If we continued to persist, it would have an impact on our customers, ”said Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida.
And here is the film company Universal Pictures, one of the few film studios that supported HD DVD, almost immediately after the official announcement of Toshiba, also announced the decision to discontinue HD DVD production and switch to Blu-ray. Most likely, Paramount will follow the example of Universal Pictures. Studios such as Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM initially only supported Blu-ray.

Blu-ray

Variations and sizes

A single layer Blu-ray Disc (BD) can store 23.3, 25, or 27 GB - enough capacity to record approximately four hours of high definition video with sound. The dual layer disc can hold 46.6, 50, or 54 GB - enough to record approximately eight hours of HD video on it. Also in development are disks with a capacity of 100 GB and 200 GB using respectively four and eight layers. TDK Corporation has already announced a prototype of a four-layer disc with a volume of 100 GB. The BD-RE (BD rewritable) standard will be available along with BD-R (recordable) and BD-ROM formats. Almost all optical media manufacturers have announced their readiness to release rewritable and recordable discs on the market at the same time as the BD-ROM format hits the market.
In addition to the standard 12cm discs, there will be 8cm discs for use in digital still cameras and camcorders, planned to be 15GB for the dual layer version.

Technical details

Laser and optics

Blu-ray technology uses a 405 nm blue-violet laser for reading and writing. Conventional DVDs and CDs use red and infrared lasers with wavelengths of 650 nm and 780 nm, respectively.
This reduction allowed the track to be narrowed in half compared to a conventional DVD - down to 0.32 microns - and increased data density.
The shorter blue-violet laser wavelength allows more information to be stored on 12cm discs the same size as CD / DVD.

Comparison of effective “spot size”.

The effective "spot size" on which the laser can focus is limited by diffraction and depends on the wavelength of the light and the numerical aperture of the lens used to focus it. Reducing the wavelength, using a larger numerical aperture (0.85 versus 0.6 for DVD), a high-quality two-lens system, and a sixfold decrease in the protective layer thickness (0.1 mm instead of 0.6 mm) made it possible to conduct better and more correct flow of read / write operations. This made it possible to write information to smaller points on the disk, which means more information to be stored in the physical area of ​​the disk, as well as to increase the read speed up to 36 Mbit / s. In addition to optical enhancements, Blu-ray Discs also feature improved encoding technology to store more information.

Hard coating technology

Due to the fact that data on Blu-Ray discs is located too close to the surface, the first versions of discs were extremely sensitive to scratches and other external mechanical influences due to which they were enclosed in plastic cartridges. This flaw raised great doubts as to whether the Blu-ray format would be able to withstand the HD DVD standard, its main competitor. HD DVD, besides its lower cost, can normally exist without cartridges, as well as CD and DVD formats, which makes it more understandable for buyers, as well as more interesting for manufacturers and distributors who may be concerned about additional costs due to cartridges.

The solution to this problem came in January 2004 with a new polymer coating that gave the discs incredible scratch and dust resistance. Called Durabis, this coating, developed by TDK Corporation, allows you to clean BDs with paper towels - which can damage CDs and DVDs. The HD DVD format has the same disadvantages as these discs are based on older optical media. According to press reports, “naked” BDs with this coating remain functional even when scratched with a screwdriver.

Codecs

The codec is used to convert video and audio streams and determines the size that the video will occupy on disk. Some or almost all of the video discs that appear at the beginning will use the MPEG-2 codec.
At the moment, the BD-ROM format specification includes support for three codecs: MPEG-2, which is also the standard for DVD; MPEG-4 H.264 / AVC codec and VC-1 - a new rapidly developing codec based on Microsoft Windows Media 9. When using the first codec, it is possible to record about two hours of high definition video on one layer, the other two are more modern codecs allow you to record up to four hours of video per layer.
For audio, BD-ROM supports Linear (uncompressed) PCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, DTS-HD, and Dolby Lossless (a lossless data compression format also known as Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP).

Compatibility

Although the Blu-ray Disc Association does not oblige player manufacturers, it strongly recommends that they make Blu-ray devices play DVDs for backward compatibility.
Moreover, JVC has developed a three-layer technology that allows both the physical area for DVD and BD to be printed on one disc, thus creating a combined BD / DVD disc. The disc prototypes were shown at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2006. If it can be commercialized, it is possible that buyers will have the opportunity to buy a disc that can be played in modern DVDs. players, and in future BD-players, receiving a picture of different quality.

Region codes

Blu-ray movies will have different region codes than DVD. According to the latest press reports, they will be as follows:
Code ——— Region
1 or A North America, South America, Japan and East Asia (excluding China)
2 or B Europe (excluding Russia) and Africa
3 or C India, China, Russia, and all other countries.

Copyright protection systems

Blu-ray uses an experimental security element called BD +, which allows you to dynamically change the encryption scheme. Once the encryption is broken, manufacturers can update the encryption scheme, and all subsequent copies will be protected by the new scheme. Thus, a single crack of the cipher will not allow the entire specification to be compromised for the entire period of its life. Also, the Mandatory Managed Copy technology will be used, which allows users to make legal copies of video information in a protected format, this technology was developed by HP and requested to be included in the format. It was the lack of the ability to dynamically change the encryption scheme that allowed the creation of the DeCSS program, which became a real bane of the film industry: as soon as the Content-Scrambling System (CSS) was cracked, all subsequent DVDs were cracked without unnecessary problems.
The next layer of protection that discs have is a digital watermark technology called ROM-Mark. This technology will be hard-wired into the ROMs of the drives during production, which will prevent the player from playing without a special hidden tag, which, according to the Association, will be impossible to counterfeit. So, through strict regulation and licensing of factories, manufacturers of discs will be selected, which will be supplied with special equipment.
In addition, all Blu-ray players will only be able to output full video through an encrypted interface. This means that most of the first HDTVs sold without HDCP-capable interfaces (HDMI or DVI with HDCP support) will not be able to play HD video from Blu-ray discs.

FAQ

- What is Blu-ray?

Blu-ray is known as Blu-ray Disc with its abbreviation BD, which is the next generation optical disc.
This format was designed for recording, rewriting and playing back high definition (HD) video, which by itself takes up a lot of data on disk. Blu-ray is more than 5x the storage density of regular DVD5 and can store more than 25GB on a single layer disc and 50GB on a dual layer for blu ray movies.

- Why Blu-ray?

The name Blu-ray was taken from technologies that rely on a blue-violet laser to write and read data. The format name is the result of a combination of the words Blue (blue, blue-violet laser) and Ray (ray, optical ray). Blu-ray Disc Association urges not to pay attention to the missing letter "e" in the name of the format, as it was one of the conditions in order to register Blu-ray as a trademark.
Correct abbreviations and spellings of the format name:
Blu-ray Disc but not Blu-rayu Disk
Blu-ray but not Blu-ray
BD, but not BR or BRD.

- Who developed Blu-ray?

The Blu-ray format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of leaders in consumer electronics, personal computers, and multimedia production.
Which has more than 180 representative companies around the world. The current board of directors is represented in the following companies:
Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth century fox
Walt disney pictures
Warner Bros. Entertainment

- Price for Blu-ray products.

Yandex will help you with the current price difference.

- What Blu-ray Disc formats are planned for release?

Based on the needs of the existence of CD and DVD in various formats, Blu-ray is planning a wide range of formats, including ROM / R / RW. These formats will be specific to Blu-ray:
BD-ROM is a read-only format, this format will distribute high definition movies, games, software, etc.
BD-R is a format for recording high definition video and any other data onto a blank disc.
BD-RE (RW) is a format that can undergo erasure of data on a disc and writing new ones.
There are also plans to release a BD \ DVD-compatible format that could make DVDs and Blu-ray discs playable on Blu-ray players and DVD players.

- How much data can you burn to Blu-ray?

Single-layer discs can store 25 GB of data.
Dual layer discs store 50 GB of data.
To be more confident that Blu-ray has a very flexible layer structure, which can lead to the highest data storage density, in the future, by adding layers, it is planned to release multilayer discs ranging in size from 100 to 200 GB (25 GB per layer).

- How many videos can I fit on Blu-ray?

A Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc can hold about 9 hours of HD video and about 23 hours of normal DVD5.

- How fast can you read / write information to Blu-ray?

Considering the Blu-ray specification, 1x speed has a bandwidth of 36Mbps. Since BD-ROM movies require at least 54Mbps bandwidth, the minimum speed will be 2x (72Mbps). Since Blu-ray has a huge potential for high speeds, a correspondingly larger NA (diffusion) adapted to Blu-ray. Consequently, a larger numerical aperture means that a Blu-ray disc requires less recording power and less drive spin than DVD and HD-DVD require to achieve the same bit rate. Whereas before the recording of media files was limited by the write speed, now on the contrary - the limiting factor for Blu-ray is the performance of your computer. This is why BDA already has plans to increase the speed to 8x (288Mbps) and more in the future.

- What video codecs does Blu-ray support?

MPEG-2 - more suitable for high definition video, also used for playing DVD and HDTV recordings.
MPEG-4 AVC - Part of the MPEG-4 standard, also known as H.264 (Low and High Profile)
SMPTE VC-1 is a standard based on Windows Media Video (WMV) technology

Blu-ray movies do not exist because it is a type of disc that contains a set of data encoded in a certain way.
Analogy as with DVD video - it is usually MPEG-2 + AC3 collected in a special format for playback on DVD players. Thus, it is correct to say not “a film in the blu-ray format” but “a film on a blu-ray disc”.

- What audio codecs does Blu-ray support?

Linear PCM (LPCM) - up to eight channel uncompressed audio. (Required)
Dolby Digital (DD) —Using DVD, 5-channel immersive audio (Mandatory)
Dolby Digital Plus (DD +) - Dolby Digital expansion, seven-channel immersive audio. (Optionally)
Dolby TrueHD - Lossless audio up to 8 channels .. (optional)
DTS Digital Surround - Uses DVD, 5-channel immersive audio. (mandatory)
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio - DTS extension, seven-channel immersive audio. (optional)
DTS-HD Master Audio - Lossless audio up to 8 channels. (optional)
Keep in mind that Blu-ray players will have support for the above audio and video codecs, but it will depend on the decision of the movie studios - which of these three codecs is better to use.

- Do you need a Blu-ray box?

No, developing a new hard-coating technology can help you forget about the need for drive bays. The new coating makes the surface of the disc more resistant and more resistant to scratches and touching fingers than DVD. The new error correction system makes Blu-ray more durable and more reliable than regular single-use DVD.

- Do I need internet connection for Blu-ray?

No, you don't need an internet connection to play Blu-ray movies normally. You may only need the Internet if you want to add some features by downloading new add-ons, downloading movie trailers, etc.
Also Internet may be required for authorized copying of Blu-ray movies to PC.

- Do you need an analog signal converter for Blu-ray?

No, Blu-ray players do not require an analog signal converter unless the video will contain the Image Constraint Token (ICT) feature. This feature is not part of Blu-ray, but is part of the AACS copy protection system, which is also present on HD DVD.
Film studios will choose on their own whether to include this feature in the release or not.
The good news is that Sony, Disney, Fox, Paramount, MGM and Universal will not use ICT.
As for other studios, they will most likely use this option in their releases. If so, then on boxes with films there will be a designation - whether this copy is protected or not.

- Is Blu-ray data backup supported?

Yes, data backup is part of the Blu-ray format.
This function will be available to the owners of the discs to make legal copies of them and, if desired, distribute within the boundaries of the home network.

Differences between Blu-ray and DVD (table).

Capacity
Laser wavelength
Numerical aperture
Disc diameter
Disc thickness
Protective layer
Hard cover
Data transfer rate:
Regular data
Audio and video		10.08 Mbps<1x
Video resolution	1920 × 1080 (1080p)	720 × 480/720 × 576 (480i / 576i)
Video bitrate
Disc thickness
Protective layer
Hard coating
Data transfer rate:
Regular data
Audio and video		36.55 Mbps<1x
Video resolution	1920 × 1080 (1080p)	1920 × 1080 (1080p)
Video bitrate
Video Codecs
Audio codecs
	Dolby Digital Plus	Dolby Digital Plus
	DTS Digital Surround	DTS Digital Surround