WESTCLIFF FILM &
VIDEO CLUB
WESTCLIFF FILM &
VIDEO CLUB
TECHNICAL PAGES
January 2005
BLU-RAY DVD
Industry experts predict that DVDs may be destined for the same fate as floppy discs: They’re still available and usable (with the right technology), but they’ll all but disappear in the shadow of a much better option.
Blu-ray, an emerging optical disc technology, is expected to replace the DVD in the coming years as the next standard for storing PC data and viewing high-definition video. The technology uses improved lens specifications and a blue laser (DVD uses red) to deliver extremely high storage density and far greater precision for recording data.
A Blu-ray Disc holds up to 50 gigabytes of data—about ten times more than a DVD. That’s enough storage for 26 hours of standard definition television and eight hours of high-definition television (HDTV). And because the technology produces less distortion, the discs provide a much higher image quality for recording and viewing HD content.
HP is a staunch supporter of Blu-Ray technology and has been a significant contributor to its development.
"The arrival of high-definition content in the home, along with the convergence of PCs and home entertainment, has created a need for a higher capacity optical disc format," says John Romano, senior vice president, Global Consumer PC Business, HP. Blu-ray’s extensive storage capacity gives HP an effective means of meeting these expanding customer requirements.
In late 2005, HP will begin offering Blu-ray Disc drives across many of its product lines, including select consumer desktop and notebook PCs, personal workstations, and digital entertainment centers.
Three types of Blu-ray discs will be available at launch:
 | BD-ROM – read-only format for software, games and movie distribution |
| BD-R – write-once format for HDTV recording and data storage |
| BD-RE – rewritable format for HDTV recording and data storage |
HP Blue-ray Disc drives will incorporate LightScribe technology, a labeling solution developed by HP that allows silk-screen quality text and graphics to be burned directly onto LightScribe-enabled Blu-ray Discs. LightScribe was recently named one of Popular Science’s ‘Best of What’s New’ inventions for 2004.
Blu-ray Discs are the same size as DVDs, and HP's Blu-ray Disc drives are expected to be backward compatible; in addition to supporting Blu-ray discs, the drives will be able to read and write to traditional CDs and DVDs.