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DVD PLAYERS: Blue Ray DVD Players
Blue Ray DVD
In February 2002, a large group of companies announced the introduction of the Blue-ray Disc (BD) format, the next generation in optical storage. The new format offers an immense storage capacity that is perfect for High Definition video recording and distribution, as well as for storing large amounts of data. The format shares the same form factors as existing CD and DVD optical discs allowing for backwards compatibility.
A current, single-sided, standard DVD can hold 4.7 GB 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, 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.
Blue-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 Blue-ray is the sheer amount of information it can hold. A single-layer Blue-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 Blue-ray disc can store up to 54 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.
Blue-ray discs not only have more storage capacity than traditional DVDs, but they also offer a new level of interactivity. Users will be able to connect to the Internet and instantly download subtitles and other interactive movie features.
