Blu-ray
From DigiWiki
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Here is a (somewhat subjective) list of reason why one might choose to support Blu-ray: | Here is a (somewhat subjective) list of reason why one might choose to support Blu-ray: | ||
| - | * Has studio support from a few of the biggest studios that have a huge catalogue of titles. The big ones include 20th Century Fox, Disney/Buena Vista MGM, Sony Pictures, Columbia/Tri-Stars, Warner Bros ( | + | * Has studio support from a few of the biggest studios that have a huge catalogue of titles. The big ones include 20th Century Fox, Disney/Buena Vista MGM, Sony Pictures, Columbia/Tri-Stars, Warner Bros (but favors HD DVD). |
* Has support from IT heavyweights such as Apple and Dell | * Has support from IT heavyweights such as Apple and Dell | ||
* Some Blockbusters stores will only feature Blu-ray rentals | * Some Blockbusters stores will only feature Blu-ray rentals | ||
Revision as of 09:38, 23 August 2007
Blu-ray is a high definition DVD format developed by Sony, and is in competition with Toshiba/NEC's rival HD DVD format. Please refer to The High Definition DVD FAQ for more information on Blu-ray.
Contents |
Why choose Blu-ray?
Here is a (somewhat subjective) list of reason why one might choose to support Blu-ray:
- Has studio support from a few of the biggest studios that have a huge catalogue of titles. The big ones include 20th Century Fox, Disney/Buena Vista MGM, Sony Pictures, Columbia/Tri-Stars, Warner Bros (but favors HD DVD).
- Has support from IT heavyweights such as Apple and Dell
- Some Blockbusters stores will only feature Blu-ray rentals
- The PS3 supports it, so lots of people will have a Blu-ray player
Why not choose Blu-ray?
Here is a list of reasons why you might not want to support Blu-ray:
- High cost of hardware as compared to HD DVD, unless you already intend to buy a PS3
- Region coding - Blu-ray has 3 region codes (A, B, C) and it will prevent parallel imports (for example, buying US discs from Australia to save money due to exchange rates is not possible)
- Excessive copy protection ... not only does it include AACS like HD DVD, it also adds ROM Mark and BD+
- Specifications not finalized yet, meaning future Blu-ray discs may have features that won't work on current players sold. Specifically, Internet based content might not be possible on players that do not already feature network connections
Industry Backers
These backers back the Blu-ray format exclusively in the HD format war, meaning they will not support HD DVD in terms of software or hardware:
- Sony
- Apple
- Dell
- Panasonic
- Philips
- Pioneer
- Sharp
- TDK
There are also supporters of Blu-ray that also support HD DVD , and they include Hitachi Maxell, LG, Lite On, Onkyo, Meridan, Samsung, and Alpine.
Movie Studio Backers
Several movie studios offer exclusive support to Blu-ray, meaning they will not release any movies on HD DVD:
- 20th Century Fox
- Buena Vista
- Columbia Pictures
- Columbia/Tristar
- Disney
- Lionsgate
- MGM (owned by Sony)
- Sony Pictures/Group
There are also several studios that offer backing to both HD formats, and they include:
- Brentwood
- Discovery Channel
- Goldhil
- HBO
- Image Entertainment
- Koch Releasing
- Magnolia Home Entertainment
- New Line Home Entertainment
- Ryko Distribution
- Studio Canal
- Vivid (Adult)
- Warner Brothers/Group
Gaming Support
Sony's PlayStation 3 includes a built-in Blu-ray player, and it is currently the most sold Blu-ray player on the market.
Technical Details
| Laser Type: | Blue-violet laser |
|---|---|
| Laser Wavelength: | 405nm |
| Track Pitch: | 0.32µm |
| Read Power: | 0.35mW |
| Disc size: | 120mm |
| Capacity: | |
| Single Layer: | 25GB |
| Dual Layer: | 50GB |
| Transfer Rate: | 1x => 36 Mbps |
| Video Resolution: | 1080i (1920x1080 HD, 50i, 60i) |
| 1080p (1920x1080 HD, 24p) | |
| 720p (1280x720, 50p, 60p, 24p) | |
| SD (720x576/480, 50i, 60i) | |
| Video Compression: | MPEG-2 |
| MPEG-4 AVC | |
| Microsoft VC-1 | |
| Audio Resolution/Compression: | Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) |
| DTS-HD | |
| MLP 2-Channel | |
| DTS-HD Lossless (optional) | |
| Copy Protection | AACS |
| ROM Mark | |
| BD+ | |
| File System: | DF 2.6 |
