BluRay and HD-DVD

The name of tremendous BluRay disc was derived from the using of the Blue Violet laser wavelength technology in producing the BluRay. In our traditional ( I dun really like using this term) CDs and DVDs, they are all created using the red laser technology and they differ not only in terms of the colour but as well as the value of the wavelength. The BR (short form for BluRay) is designed and engineered using 405nm wavelength ( nano means x10^-9) whereas the CDs and DVDs are manufactured using the 780 and 650nm respectively. The hypothesis is proven to sound true as the shorter the wavelength the more digital information can be stored in a disc. I am not quite sure whether this applies to every one of us, but my opinion is the storage capacity doesn’t matter. The main concern is the functionality of BR to store and the ability to playback high-definition video and audio clips. There is already a controversial battle between the BR and the HD-DVD format in our world today, and my own opinion is storage will never become the factor of victory between them. Ok, lets start the engine! As everybody knows the limitation size of the DVD5 (Single-layered) ceased at 4.7 GB while the DVD9 (Double-layere) stops at 8.5 GB. Speaking of the storage capacity of thr 4.7 GB DVDR, the majority of the DVD-Rs do not really allow the user to burn data which exceeds 4.45 GB and above. The answer is inevitable, but it is definitely true according to my friend who is an pc expert. Using the Nero Burner 7.0 Ultra Edition allows you to over-burn the data on the particular CD once the system configurations are tuned up accordingly. But over-burning is not advisable as it will hurt your important files on the CD. If the case worsened, every info on the CD will be crashed and damaged.

Type of media storage	Single-layered	Double-layered
BluRay	25 GB	50 GB
DVD	4.7 GB	8.5 GB
CD	655 MB - above	Unknown

The BR can store up to 9 hours ( 540 minutes) of HD media storage on a single-layered version (25 GB). As for the 50GB version, approximately 23 hours of data can be saved in the digital disc. Can you ever imagine that you are actually watching a movie of 50 GB! You must be wondering about this question “Do I really get what I really want since that I had already bought a BluRay player with RM4999?” Actually, no deceit, you can really experience the home theatre quality in terms of both picture and sound quality as the picture generated can go up to 1080p (1920 x 1280 Progressive). I really hate to say this…. But you are entitled to watch Casino Royale BluRay title with FULL HD!

Normally in the movie making procedure using BR formats, the director will usually compile the entire movie in a BR 50GB and with the left-out space he will insert the bonus features comprising commentary stuffs, HD trailers, sound clips, featured wallpapers, behind-the-scene action events, and so on using the SD quality. This is to ensure that the viewers will be able to get the best image and sound quality through out the amazing action-packed BR titles. But don’t feel bad if you are really a serious viewer who takes the bonus features seriously especially on those the-making-of(s) as they are all implemented in the SD format. The good news is, although they are all saved as SD formats in order to save more space for the movie, the source is still HD. Yes, this is the part where most of the consumers turned their back away from the HDMI DVD players giving the excuses that they do not own a proper HD-ready TV. In reality, although you will never view it in HD quality but your HDMI DVD player will upconvert the image and sound quality to a near 480p format and the output doesn’t really matter as the source is the key point here. Let me put it in another way of explanation, even if you bought a FULL-HD LCD TV and positioned it in front of you, it is pointless if you are watching the ancient VCR video tapes and direct the source into the HD output. Yes, you might as well get improvement, but think twice, does it really fulfill your enthusiastic dreams of watching cinema-like movies? So, the source always come first and the output second.

Below is the picture of LG Super Blu Player which is able to play BluRay and HD-DVD using one ultimate machine.

Normal CDs and DVDs are exposed and vulnerable to scratches and abrasions caused when the user misplaced them everywhere when they finished watching movies or listening to music. So, the new BR is released with the scratch-protective layer coating which helped to reduce scratches and physical damage to it as in the hope to protect the consumers’ property. TDK has already came up with the BD-RE with the popular surface coating technology (DURABIS) which aid in preventing serious scratches and contaminants that will be the harmful agents of the consumers’ data. Please visit www.tdk.com for more information on DURABIS.

The on-going development is foreseeable and there is no doubt that the BR disc can achieve greater future. Up until now the scientists and engineers had invented a BR with Quad-layered, Six-layered, and even 10-layered feature. In mathematics, multiplying 10 layers of data storage with 25 GB per layer will give you 250 GB! Are you serious? A 250 GB of BR is already on par with a Hard Disk Drive with 250 GB and compare the size for the both of them…… scary…

BluRay disc players can playback MPEG2, H.264 and VC1. Mpeg4 didn’t get involved in the list as Microsoft had already copyrighted the format for their own usage. I would end this article by saying that BluRay is such a magnificent media storage and I will sometimes test myself, how good if I can foresee the future that what comes after BluRay goes……