Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of the most technologically advanced optical disc storage medium on the market. Blu-ray was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which is a group of the worlds leading consumer electronics, computer hardware and motion picture companies. The BD disc has the same physical dimensions as a standard DVD and CD, but its main advantages are more storage space for data and the ability to store high-definition video. This allows Blu-ray players to play the highest quality movies at 1080p resolution with an HDMI cable. Blu-ray Disks are able to hold up to ten times more storage capacity than a traditional DVD, that is 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. Recent developments by Pioneer players have pushed the storage capacity to 500GB on a single disc by using 20 layers but they are still developiing and perfecting the technology.

If you like burning with your existing DVD burner on your computer, you will love a Blu-ray burner. The Blu-ray format is able to store much more data due to its blue-violet laser which has a shorter wave length than the DVD standard of a red laser. This offers the Blu-ray media to focus the laser with even greater precision offering the data to be packed more tightly and use less space on the disc. That is where is can hold ten times as much data, a DVD single layer will hold 4.7GB where as a dual-layer Blu-ray disc will hold 50GB. Many Bly-ray players are backwards compatible with DVD and CD discs so you can watch your current collection.

On Going Development

The companies in the Blu-ray Disc Association are working on improving Blu-ray discs and making them cheaper. There are over 1200 Blu-ray movies currently on Blu-ray discs and they are always releasing more every week. Currently, the companies are working on making quad-layer 100GB discs, 200GB discs and even a 20 layer 500GB disc. There are also Mini Blu-ray Discs which have been developed for compact camcorders and other compact recording devices. But the most exciting development has to be the recordable Blu-ray disc. As with DVD, they will have a single use disc or BD-R and a disc that can be erased and re-recorded multiple times, the BD-RE. The first recordable discs were released in February 2008 and in March 2008, BD-R gained official support from the Sony Playstation 3. If you are in the market to upgrade or start your home entertainment system, a Blu-ray player and/or a Blu-ray recorder are must have items for any entertainment enthusiast.