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Blu-Ray is a new optical storage technologies that fight as the successor of DVD. In this topic you will know everything you need to know about this technology.
With the introduction of high-definition TV (HDTV) DVD storage capacity showed to be insufficient to this application. DVD supports a resolution up to 720x480 pixels, while HDTV works with resolutions as high as 1920x1080 pixels. Just to give you an idea, two hours of high-definition video with data compression requires 22 GB of storage space. Keep in mind that the maximum capacity of a DVD is of 17 GB, if a DVD-18 disc is used (keep in mind that this is a dual-sided dual-layer disc).
In fact a Blu-Ray or a HD-DVD is a DVD disc with a higher storage capacity, allowing you to store high-definition contents. It is important to remark that the main motivation to the creation of a DVD successor was the introduction of HDTV, which requires a higher disc storage capacity, feature a regular DVD cannot provide. But how a Blu-Ray is able to store more data than a DVD disc.
Blu-Ray technology was developed in February 2002 to be DVD’s successor by a consortium made by companies that include Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson. HD-DVD, on the other hand, was created by Toshiba and recently got support from Microsoft, HP and Intel.
Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs have the same physical size of DVD discs (and CDs), with a diameter of 12 cm (120 mm, around 4 ¾”).

In 1997, a new technology emerged that brought digital sound and video into homes all over the world. It was called DVD, and it revolutionized the movie industry.
The industry is set for yet another revolution with the introduction of Blu-ray Discs (BD). With their high storage capacity, Blu-ray discs can hold and play back large quantities of high-definition video and audio, as well as photos, data and other digital content.
Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codec’s will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.
Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 180 of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today’s DVD format. In fact, seven of the eight major movie studios (Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are supporting the Blu-ray format and five of them (Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are releasing their movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. Many studios have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month. For more information about Blu-ray movies, check out our Blu-ray movies section which offers information about new and upcoming Blu-ray releases, as well as what movies are currently available in the Blu-ray format.

1 Why the name Blu-ray?
The name Blu-ray is derived from the underlying technology, which utilizes a blue-violet laser to read and write data. The name is a combination of “Blue” (blue-violet laser) and “Ray” (optical ray). According to the Blu-ray Disc Association the spelling of “Blu-ray” is not a mistake; the character “e” was intentionally left out so the term could be registered as a trademark.

The correct full name is Blu-ray Disc, not Blu-ray Disk (incorrect spelling)
the correct shortened name is Blu-ray, not Blu-Ray (incorrect capitalization) or Blue-ray (incorrect spelling)
the correct abbreviation is BD, not BR or BRD (wrong abbreviation)
The name Blu-ray came from the fact that the laser beam which reads the data from the new discs is blue instead of red which is used for current DVDs and CDs. This new blue laser is at the heart of Blu-ray Disc technology (i.e. blue ray of light).



2 What is Blu-Ray Disc?

A current, single-sided, standard DVD can hold 4.7 GB (gigabytes) of information. That’s about the size of an average two-hour, standard-definition movie with a few extra features. But a high-definition movie, which has a much clearer image (see How Digital Television Works), takes up about five times more bandwidth and therefore requires a disc with about five times more storage. As TV sets and movie studios make the move to high definition, consumers are going to need playback systems with a lot more storage capacity.

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a next-generation optical disc format. The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc.
Blu-ray is the next-generation digital video disc. It can record, store and play back high-definition video and digital audio, as well as computer data. The advantage to Blu-ray is the sheer amount of information it can hold:
• A single-layer Blu-ray disc, which is roughly the same size as a DVD, can hold up to 27 GB of data – that’s more than two hours of high-definition video or about 13 hours of standard video.
• A double-layer Blu-ray disc can store up to 50 GB, enough to hold about 4.5 hours of high-definition video or more than 20 hours of standard video. And there are even plans in the works to develop a disc with twice that amount of storage.



3 Key features of Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation, optical disc format that enables the ultimate high-def entertainment experience. Blu-ray Disc provides these key features and advantages:
• Maximum picture resolution. Blu-ray Disc delivers full 1080p* video resolution to provide pristine picture quality.
• Largest capacity available anywhere (25 GB single layer/50 GB dual layer). Blu-ray Disc offers up to 5X the capacity of today’s DVDs.
• Best audio possible. Blu-ray Disc provides as many as 7.1 channels of native, uncompressed surround sound for crystal-clear audio entertainment.
• Enhanced interactivity. Enjoy such capabilities as seamless menu navigation, exciting, new bonus features, and network/Internet connectivity.
• Broadest industry support from brands you trust. More than 90% of major Hollywood studios, virtually all leading consumer electronics companies, four of the top computer brands, the world’s two largest music companies, PLAYSTATION® 3 and the leading gaming companies, all support Blu-ray Disc.
• The largest selection of high-def playback devices.Blu-ray Disc is supported by many of the leading consumer electronics and computing manufacturers. That means you can maximize the use of your HDTV and your home entertainment system with the widest selection of high-def playback devices—including players, recorders, computers, aftermarket drives and the PLAYSTATION® 3 game console.
• Backward compatibility**. Blu-ray Disc players enable you to continue to view and enjoy your existing DVD libraries.
• Disc robustness. Breakthroughs in hard-coating technologies enable Blu-ray Disc to offer the strongest resistance to scratches and fingerprints.

The "Blu-ray Disc Association" was founded in 2002 by nine leading electronic companies: Matsushita, Pioneer, Phillips, Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung and Sony as contrast to the DVD Forum. Spearheaded by Sony Corporation on February 19th 2002 the companies announced they were the "Founders" of the Blu-ray Disc and later changed their name to the "Blu-ray Disc Association" in order to achieve more companies joining their development. Some examples of companies that signed in include Apple, TDK, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal Music Group. At the moment the there are more than 250 members and supporters of the Association.
In today’s world data storage is one of the key features in especially technology field in early days of the computer world the data was stored on punch card which hardly stored data in bytes, as the technology field always is the one which upgrades constantly. Later the storage media which came into use was magnetic tape, where aries storage medias such as VHS, Floppy drive and various medias came into existence,with the use on magnetic disk the amount of data which was portable was in ten’s of Mega Byte data .

Then the revolutionary technology came where the storage device was the compact disc with the help of optical beam which could be used to store the data in the hundred of MB’s. In CD the beam which was used was a red beam which could store upto700 MB of data on one disk.
But with the help of Blue beam on the disc Blu-ray data upto 25GB can be stored.